Research Projects

The increase in greenhouse gases due to the use of fossil fuels is causing a need for effective techniques to control emissions. CO2 is a greenhouse gas that can be captured, stored, and converted to value-added products. However, breaking down CO2 for fuel production is energy-intensive. Hydrogenation of CO2 is a valuable method for synthesizing fuels like methanol, but achieving single-step hydrogenation requires high temperatures and pressure. The commercial process involves syngas formation and secondary reactions to produce methanol. Traditionally, methanol synthesis is carried out with a mixture of copper and zinc oxides supported on alumina catalyst at 50-100 atm pressure and 250°C. The biggest problems with converting CO2 to oxygenates like methanol are selective synthesis of desired products and cost-viability. This proposal proposes e-methanol synthesis by CO2 hydrogenation through a nonthermal plasma approach, which offers an advantage of conducting the reaction under ambient conditions against the 100 atm pressure requirement in traditional synthesis. An alkaline electrolyzer will be used for H2-generation.