The Application of Nano photocatalyst in the Production of Synthesis Gas for the Production of Renewable Methanol: An Experimental and Review Study

Methanol is one of the four basic chemicals that is used beside ethylene, propylene and ammonia to produce other chemicals. Industrial production of methanol is dependent on synthesis gas (a mixture of CO, H2 and CO2). One of the approaches of producing hydrogen from renewable and organic sources is green hydrogen, and researches in this field is being developed as a renewable fuel. Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a greenhouse gas and the main reason of global climate change, which is being studied and recycled to valuable products and fuels. Methanol production is one of method for decreasing CO2. In this study, using an experimental method of nano-photocatalyst and UV light (renewable method), synthesis gas by combining water and hydrocarbons was produced. Experimental results show that with the degradation of 85.3% of hydrocarbons in water, the efficiency of titanium oxide-based copper chromate nano-photocatalyst in the production of synthesized gas is about 14% higher than that of titanium oxide nano-photocatalyst. In addition, the crystalline phase and material structure, morphology and chemical composition were tested and analyzed using the measurements of XRD, SEM/EDS, TEM/EDS and XPS. This catalytic technique can be important in producing a clean fuel due to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and environmental effects. One of the applications of methanol in MTBE feed is to increase the octane number of gasoline. It is also proposed, with the reduction of methanol prices in the global market in the future and the growing importance of environmental issues, through appropriate incentives, efforts should be made to invest in the conversion of methanol to propylene.