165253 20251219174252.0 doi 10.1016/j.fuel.2025.137642 sideral 146721 ART-2025-146721 eng González-Pizarro, R. Universidad de Zaragoza (orcid)0009-0000-5038-2252 Low loading copper-based catalysts for effective CO2 hydrogenation to methanol 2025 Methanol synthesis via CO2 hydrogenation is an emerging Power-to-Liquid (PtL) technology aimed to accelerate the energy transition and the defossilization of key sectors, particularly maritime transport. This study focuses on the study of low loading formulations, to minimize the catalyst cost. Key operational variables including temperature (T), Weight Hourly Space Velocity (WHSV), copper and zinc loadings, and aging state were systematically varied. An overall active phase loading of 10 %wt emerged as optimal. Within this total loading, a 5 %wtCu-5 %wtZn/ZrO2 catalysts delivered higher methanol productivity than 10 %wtCu/ZrO2; however, the bimetallic catalysts showed pronounced deactivation under water-rich atmospheres, establishing 10 %wtCu/ZrO2 as the most promising catalysts. Operating temperature and WHSV exerted a strong, synergistic influence on CH3OH formation; in particular, increasing WHSV shifted the reaction away from thermodynamic control and boosted methanol synthesis. Finally, the catalytic performance of these low-loading catalysts was benchmarked against high-copper-loading methanol catalysts reported in the literature by critically compare their activities as a function of the residence time (τ) calculated at reaction conditions. This assessment revealed that the proposed formulation is highly competitive when compared to most conventional formulation, with a maximum methanol space time yield (STYCH3OH) of 3.9 gCH3OH gCu-1 h-1. This comparison confirms that the catalysts proposed in this study could offer a remarkably more efficient use of the active phase than the conventional high-copper-loading catalysts. Access copy available to the general public Unrestricted info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/AEI/PID2022-139819OB-I00 info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/DGA/T43-23R info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/MICINN/PDC2022-133066-I00 info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/MICINN/PRE2023-UZ-26 info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/MICIU/JDC2023-052947-I info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess by-nc-nd https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/deed.es info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion Renda, S. Universidad de Zaragoza (orcid)0000-0002-5926-5252 Lasobras, J. Universidad de Zaragoza (orcid)0000-0002-7488-6196 Soler, J. Universidad de Zaragoza (orcid)0000-0001-9022-2835 Menéndez, M. Universidad de Zaragoza (orcid)0000-0002-2494-102X Herguido, J. Universidad de Zaragoza (orcid)0000-0003-1940-9597 5005 555 Universidad de Zaragoza Dpto. Ing.Quím.Tecnol.Med.Amb. Área Ingeniería Química 5005 790 Universidad de Zaragoza Dpto. Ing.Quím.Tecnol.Med.Amb. Área Tecnologi. Medio Ambiente 408 (2025), 137642 [15 pp.] Fuel Fuel 0016-2361 6679022 http://zaguan.unizar.es/record/165253/files/texto_completo.pdf Versión publicada 2421881 http://zaguan.unizar.es/record/165253/files/texto_completo.jpg?subformat=icon icon Versión publicada oai:zaguan.unizar.es:165253 articulos driver 2025-12-19-14:43:51 ARTICLE