| dc.description.abstract | Hydrogenolysis of methyl formate has been proposed as a part of an alternative route for methanol production. Copper catalyst for the hydrogenation of ester to alcohol is a catalyst commonly used due to its high selectivity and conversion for alcohol. The focus in this work is to see the performance of nanoparticle copper catalyst, for hydrogenolysis of methyl formate at different temperature. Nano sized metal catalyst has been discovered to have improved efficiency, selectivity and stability. Two types of nanoparticle catalyst have been tested, Cu2O and CuO, where CuO has a smaller crystallite and particle size than Cu2O. The catalyst has been tested in a low-pressure gas phase reaction for hydrolysis of methyl formate to methanol at 170°C, 210° and 250°C. In the experimental work, the conversion showed to increase with higher temperature, and the highest conversion was found at 250°C. The catalyst with the smallest crystallite and particle size had the highest conversion of 76%, at 250°C. In the reaction at 250°C the formation of CO increase compared to the reaction at 170°C and 210°C. Because of the increased formation of CO, the selectivity to methanol was 78% at 250°C, while at 170°C and 210°C the selectivity to methanol was 90%. | nb_NO |
