Research Projects

The growing demand for sustainable fuels, coupled with the urgent need to decrease carbon emissions in the energy and chemical sectors, has intensified the search for eco-friendly alternatives to fossil fuels.[1] Among various alternatives, methanol emerges as an important platform chemical and energy carrier, widely utilized in fuel blending, chemical production, and hydrogen storage.[2] In the context of India’s commitment to the Paris Agreement and Net-Zero targets, developing sustainable routes for methanol production is imperative. This proposal aims to create and implement a highly efficient catalytic method to convert biomass-derived syngas into methanol under mild conditions aligning with the national mission on bioenergy and value addition to agricultural residues. The idea to convert CO₂ and H₂ into synthetic methanol was introduced by French chemist Paul Sabatier in 1905,[3] followed by the industrial process established by German chemists Alwin Mittasch and Mathias Pier, who could convert the syngas (a mixture of CO, CO₂, and H₂) into methanol. Industrial methanol production involves steam reforming of natural gas to syngas (CO, CO₂, H₂) followed by catalytic hydrogenation of syngas to methanol over Cu/ZnO/Al₂O₃ catalysts.[4] However, this process is energy-intensive and not environmentally sustainable. An improvised industrial process under harsh conditions (250–300 ˚C, 50–100 bar) was found unsuitable for biomass-derived syngas. The variation in the quantity of CO₂ in syngas may also influence the efficacy of the catalyst. However, Gutierrez Ortiz proposed the hydrogenation of carbon oxides to methanol over a suitable (CuO, ZnO, or CrO based) catalyst where a small amount of CO₂ in the feed (2–10%) acts as a promoter and maintains the catalytic activity. In fact, the lack of CO₂ promotes the reverse direction, leading to catalyst deactivation by carbon deposition.[5] Most importantly, syngas (H₂+CO) with a stoichiometric ratio (H₂/CO) ranging 1:2 is predominantly used in the industrial process.[6] Annually India generates ~500 mT of agricultural waste, and this biomass can be thermochemically converted to syngas, bio-oil, or platform chemicals like furfural and levulinic acid. These intermediates offer versatile routes to methanol production when paired with appropriate catalytic processes. Syngas from biomass followed by hydrogenation using Cu/ZnO or In₂O₃ based catalysts are studied extensively. About 79% of such studies deal with Cu-based, followed by 11.5% of Pd based and 9.5% on both bimetallic catalytic systems. The vast majority of the Cu-based catalysts (75.9%) deal with Cu−ZnO composites, and the addition of Al₂O₃ and ZrO₂ is widely used. Pd-based catalysts are mostly supported on Ga₂O₃, followed by CeO₂, SiO₂, and ZnO, while the composition of bimetallic catalysts is broad.[4] *References are cited in methodology sanction