Production of hydrogen-rich gas by oxidative steam reforming of dimethoxymethane over CuO-CeO₂/γ-Al₂O₃ catalyst

The catalytic properties of CuO-CeO₂ supported on alumina for the oxidative steam reforming (OSR) of dimethoxymethane (DMM) to hydrogen-rich gas in a tubular fixed bed reactor were studied. The CuO-CeO₂/γ-Al₂O₃ catalyst provided complete DMM conversion and hydrogen productivity > 10 L h^-1 g_cat^-1 at 280 ^◦C, GHSV (gas hourly space velocity) = 15,000 h^-1 and DMM:O₂:H₂O:N₂ = 10:2.5:40:47.5 vol.%. Comparative studies showed that DMM OSR exceeded DMM steam reforming (SR) and DMM partial oxidation (PO) in terms of hydrogen productivity. Thus, the outcomes of lab-scale catalytic experiments show high promise of DMM oxidative steam reforming to produce hydrogen-rich gas for fuel cell feeding.