High pressure Water Gas Shift performance over a commercial non-sulfide CoMo catalyst using industrial coal-derived syngas

High pressure Water Gas Shift performance over a commercial non-sulfide CoMo catalyst was studied in a bench scale set-up, using an industrial coal-derived syngas feed. CO conversion showed an important dependence on both reaction temperature and space velocity but remained almost constant with increasing H2Ov/CO molar ratios. Hydrogen selectivity showed the same trend although it was enhanced with increasing H2Ov/CO molar ratios. The effect of the activation method on CO conversion was also studied. Despite non-sulfide CoMo catalysts have been widely considered as non-active for WGS reaction, a surprisingly high CO conversion comparable to that attained by the sulfide one, was displayed by this catalyst in the range of conditions studied. However, non-sulfide CoMo catalyst still resulted in lower conversion values if compared with pre-sulfide one.