ABSTRACT
Reduction of CO2 with hydrogen into CO was studied for the first time on alumina-supported Co and Fe catalysts under supercritical conditions with the goal to produce either CO or CH4 as the target products. The extremely high selectivity towards methanation close to 100% was found for the Co/Al2O3 catalyst, whereas the Fe/Al2O3 system demonstrates a predominance of hydrogenation to CO with noticeable formation of ethane (up to 15%). The space-time yield can be increased by an order of magnitude by using the supercritical conditions as compared to the gas-phase reactions. Differences in the crystallographic phase features of Fe-containing catalysts cause the reverse water gas shift reaction to form carbon monoxide, whereas the reduced iron phases initiate the Fischer-Tropsch reaction to produce a mixture of hydrocarbons. Direct methanation occurs selectively on Co catalysts. No methanol formation was observed on the studied Fe- and Co-containing catalysts.