CO Hydrogenation over Alumina-Supported Sulfide Cluster Catalysts

Bimetallic Mo-Fe and Mo-Co sulfide clusters were anchored on AI,O, and used for CO hydrogenation. In addition to methane, significant amounts of dimethyl ether were produced. The reaction orders obtained from power rate laws for methanation indicated that the surfaces of the catalytic ensembles were not completely saturated by CO, in contrast to the observations for most conventional CO hydrogenation catalysts. A kinetic analysis and parameter estimation was performed to identify the rate-determining step for methanation. A catalytic cycle was postulated that could account not only for the formation of methane and higher hydrocarbons, but also for dimethyl ether as a primary product.