Effect of methanol dehydration component in hybrid catalyst for the direct synthesis of dimethyl ether from syngas

Methanol synthesis catalyst CuO-ZnO-Al2O3 was prepared by cocurrent coprecipitation and mixed with several methanol dehydration components into the hybrid catalysts for the direct synthesis of dimethyl ether from syngas, and their catalytic performances were evaluated in a pressurized fixed-bed flow reactor. It was found that with the methanol dehydration catalyst, a modified γ-Al2O3 produced by SWRDICI, as the dehydration component, the hybrid catalyst showed the best catalytic activity. The NH3-TPD results indicated that both the acid strength and the acid amount increased on the surface of the modified γ-Al2O3, and both weak acid sites and medium-strength acid sites existed on the surface of the hybrid catalysts.