Boosting the activity in the direct conversion of CO2/CO mixtures into gasoline using ZnO-ZrO2 catalyst in tandem with HZSM-5 zeolite

The direct production of C5+ hydrocarbons from CO2/CO mixtures with methanol as intermediate is an attractive alternative for the production of gasoline from CO2 and syngas derived from biomass. With this purpose, the performance of CuO-ZnO-ZrO2 (CZZ), In2O3-ZrO2 (IZ) and ZnO-ZrO2 (ZZ) metallic oxides was compared by using them in tandem with a HZSM-5 zeolite. The catalysts were analyzed by means of N2 adsorption-desorption, XRD, XRF, H2-TPR and NH3-TPD. Two series of runs were performed in a packed bed reactor: (i) the methanol synthesis with the metallic oxides as catalysts, at 250–430 °C; 50 bar; CO2/COx, 0–1; H2/COx, 3; space time 6 gcat h molC−1; and (ii) the synthesis of hydrocarbons with the tandem catalysts with a metallic oxide/zeolite mass ratio of 1/1, at 340, 380 and 420 °C; 30 and 50 bar; CO2/COx, 0.5 and 1; H2/COx, 3; space time 12 gcat h molC−1. The results were quantified in terms of yield and selectivity of the product fractions and CO2 and COx (CO2 + CO) conversion. The higher methanol yield attained with the CZZ catalyst for the CO + H2 feed and its mixing with CO2 was faded by the problem of its sintering above 350 °C (minimum temperature required for the extent of methanol conversion to hydrocarbons). The IZ and ZZ catalysts were active, selective to methanol and stable both in the methanol synthesis and when used in IZ/HZSM-5 and ZZ/HZSM-5 tandem catalysts. Excellent results were obtained with the latter, which resulted in a 20.7% yield of C5+ hydrocarbon fraction at 420 °C and 50 bar, with CO2 and COx conversion of 39.7% and 28.4%, respectively. This fraction corresponded to isoparaffinic gasoline, with isoparaffin yield (mainly C5 and C6) surpassing 20% and low concentration of aromatics (0.1%) that led to a Research Octane Number of 91.8. This composition results attractive for its integration into the refineries gasoline pool. Furthermore, the changes of the CO2/COx ratio in the feed barely affected the yield and composition of the gasoline obtained with the ZZ/HZSM-5 catalyst, stating its great versatility.