Steam reforming of dimethyl ether by use of catalyst mixture of Cu/Zn loaded carbon catalyst and γ-Al₂O₃

Steam reforming of dimethyl ether (DME) was performed using a carbon catalyst highly dispersed with Cu/Zn. To enhance catalytic activity, Cu/Zn loaded carbon was combined with γ-Al₂O₃. Both Cu/Zn loaded carbon and γ-Al₂O₃ were necessary for the conversion of DME to hydrogen by steam reforming. The presence of sufficient amounts of γ-Al₂O₃ in the catalyst was essential for promoting the reaction. The CH₄ yield could be suppressed ≤ 0.50% by promoting the successive two reactions of DME hydrolysis and steam reforming of methanol using the proposed catalyst combination. This is an abstract of a paper presented at the 2007 AIChE Annual Meeting (Salt Lake City, UT 11/4-9/2007).