Journal of Energy Chemistry

Journal of Energy Chemistry ›› 2023, Vol. 79 ›› Issue (4): 418-449.DOI: 10.1016/j.jechem.2022.12.037

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CO2 utilization in syngas conversion to dimethyl ether and aromatics: Roles and challenges of zeolites-based catalysts

Ali A. Al-Qadria,b, Galal A. Nasserb, Haruna Adamub,c, Oki Murazab, Tawfik A. Salehd,*   

  1. aDepartment of Chemical Engineering, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran 31261, Saudi Arabia;
    bInterdisciplinary Research Center for Hydrogen and Energy Storage (IRC-HES), King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, Dhahran 31261, Saudi Arabia;
    cDepartment of Environmental Management Technology, and Department of Chemistry, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi, Nigeria;
    dDepartment of Chemistry, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran 31261, Saudi Arabia
  • Received:2022-10-08 Revised:2022-12-22 Accepted:2022-12-26 Online:2023-04-15 Published:2023-05-30
  • Contact: * E-mail address: tawfikas@hotmail.com (T.A. Saleh).
  • About author:Ali. A. Al-Qadri received his Bachelor’s (2019) and Master’s (2022) degrees from King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM), Saudi Arabia. He has a major in chemical engineering and minor in math. Now, he is pursuing his Ph.D. in the Department of Chemical Engineering at KFUPM. His main research area is on process simulation and catalysis. He works on several environmental aspects such as plastic waste management, CO2 emission reduction, and wastewater treatment.
    Galal Atef Nasser received his Bachelor’s (2015) and Master’s (2017) degrees from the Department of Chemical Engineering, King Fahd University of Petro-leum and Minerals (KFUPM), Saudi Arabia. He is cur-rently a research assistance (Engineer I) at the Interdisciplinary Research Center for Hydrogen and Energy Storage (IRC-HES), KFUPM, Saudi Arabia. His research interests focus on the development, synthesis, and characterization of heterogeneous catalysis for hydrocarbons cracking, MTO, CO2 conversion, and hydrogen production.
    Haruna Adamu was a postdoctoral research fellow at the Interdisciplinary Research Center for Hydrogen and Energy Storage, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. He received his PhD in Chemistry with specialization in Surface Chemistry and Catalysis from University of Aberdeen, Scotland, United Kingdom. He previously published in reputable journals, such as Applied Catalysis B: Environmental, Chemical Engineering Journal, Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering, and Journal of Environmental Science and Pollution Research, among others. He attended several international conferences and workshops along with paper and poster presentations in Surface Chemistry and Catalysis, particularly in the areas of energy and environmental applications. His research interest currently revolves around photocatalysis, photoelectrocatalysis and electrocatalysis for energy and environmental applications with keen passion on water splitting pro-cess for hydrogen production, water treatment, as well as CO2 capture and uti-lization for climate change mitigation and waste recovery for sustainability.
    Oki Muraza received his PhD in Chemical Engineering from Technische Universiteit Eindhoven, MSc from Techniche Universiteit Delft and BSc from Institut Teknologi Bandung. He worked as a principal investi-gator at KFUPM, he secured numerous prestigious grants ($ 6.2 million) from Saudi Aramco and Sabic. He published more than 120 peer-reviewed articles and numerous patents. He led projects in Catalytic Cracking for future refinery (with Aramco) and Natural Gas Valorization to Chemicals (with SABIC). He worked with different topics in Energy fields such as Algae-to Fuel and Bioenergy. Currently he is leading Research & Technology Innovation in Pertamina as Senior Vice President.
    Tawfik Saleh is a Professor of chemistry at King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. He worked as a principal investigator at KFUPM, he secured numerous prestigious grants from many industerial sectors. He published many peer-reviewed articles and numerous patents. He authors several Books in the area of chemistry and nanomaterials.

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Abstract: Several studies have proven a strong correlation between global warming and CO2 emissions. Annually, 38 billion tons of CO2 are approximately emitted into the atmosphere. Utilizing CO2 via chemical con-version to clean fuels and value-added aromatics can substantially contribute to controlling the prob-lem. Considering the thermodynamic and environmental limitations of hydrogenation of CO2 alone to value-added aromatics and fuels, CO2 utilization has currently emerged as a promising and practical approach for the production of fuels and aromatics with simultaneous utilization of both CO and CO2 wastes. As such, the approach is economically preferable. CO2 could be converted directly to fuels by the hydrogenation process or as a part of a syngas mixture. Dimethyl ether (DME) is a clean fuel with a higher energy density, which could be used as a substituent for several fuels such as diesel. In the same vein, value-added aromatics such as benzene, toluene, and xylene (BTX) can be produced from a similar process. Herein, we report a review that collects the most recent studies for the conver-sion of CO2 to DME and aromatics via zeolite-based bifunctional catalysts. We highlighted the main routes for producing DME and aromatics, as well as thoroughly discussed the conducted studies on CO2 hydrogenation and CO2-rich syngas utilized as feedstock for conversion to DME and aromatics. The CO2 hydrogenation mostly occurs through the methanol-mediated reaction route but is most often limited by low selectivity and catalyst deactivation, particularly in the utilization of CO2 alone for the reduction reaction. The review takes an overview of the progress made so far and concluded by iden-tifying the roles and challenges of zeolite-based catalysts for CO2 utilization and conversion to DME and aromatics. Accordingly, despite the incredible growth the field received in the last couple of years, however, many research challenges and opportunities associated with this process are still abounded and required to be addressed. Special attention is required for the development of approaches to block diffusion of H2O through zeolite to suppress the excess formation of CO2 in CO2-rich syngas hydro-genation to DME and aromatics, exceed the product distribution limits, and suppress catalysts deactivation.

Key words: Clean fuel, DME, Aromatics, Bifunctional catalyst, CO2 mitigation