Catalytic Sorbent bed for IMproved Production of methAnol
(Projet-ANR-22-CE50-0019)

Octobre 2022 - Avril 2026

Partenaire IMN du projet : Thomas DEVIC  (équipe ST2E)

Coordinateur :
Institut de chimie et procédés pour l’énergie, l’environnement et la santé (ICPEES Schiltigheim)
Partenaires :
Catalyse, Polymérisation, Procédés et Matériaux (CP2M Lyon)
Institut Charles Gerhardt Montpellier (ICGM Montpellier)

Personnels IMN impliqués :
Stéphane GROLLEAU (AI UNIV), Michaël PARIS (IR CNRS), Dorian REY (CDD)

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The SIMPA project is part of the Power-To-Fuels theme. It aims to overcome the thermodynamic limitation of methanol production from CO2 and renewable H2 by combining a water sorption function and a catalytic function in the same bed. It will focus on developing catalytic sorbent beds of increasing technical sophistication. Conventional sorbents/catalysts will initially be studied in order to implement the various techniques aimed at characterizing water adsorption (sorption capacity, selectivity with respect to methanol and CO2, desorption) under the targeted conditions (typically 20 bar, 230°C) and assessing catalytic performance in the presence of sorbent. MOF-type sorption materials will then be studied and characterized under hydrothermal conditions. Catalysts for methanol synthesis from CO2 will be developed, to be active at low temperatures and more selective in methanol. Sorbent bed/catalyst geometries will be studied to optimize methanol yields. The reaction will be implemented in sequential sorption-reaction-desorption mode in two parallel reactors. Finally, all-in-one catalytic sorbents will be developed. Finally, beyond experimental proof in sequential mode, multi-scale modeling (sorption, diffusion, chemical kinetics, reactor, sequential mode process) will enable us at the end of the project to propose optimal operating conditions and cycling strategy for the water sorption-assisted methanol synthesis reaction.