Catalytic Reaction Lab Report

(1 point) What is the desired catalytic reaction and the primary undesired reactions and explain the enthalpy terms?
The chemical equation representing the desired catalytic reaction is the selective hydrogenation of CO2 to produce methanol, which can be written as follows:
CO_2 + 3H_2 → CH_3 OH + H_2 O
In this equation, carbon dioxide (CO2) and hydrogen gas (H2) react in the presence of a catalyst to produce methanol (CH3OH) and water (H2O). The selectivity of the catalyst determines the amount of methanol produced in relation to other potential byproducts. The primary undesired reactions in this process are the RWGS reaction and methanol decomposition. The RWGS reaction can be represented by the following equation:
CO_2+H_2↔CO+H_2 O
The

In this process, the chemical structure that must be preserved for CO2 to be converted to methanol is the C=O bond of Carbon dioxide.
During the selective hydrogenation process, the C=O bond of Carbon dioxide is broken, and a hydrogen atom is added to produce the methanol molecule. Therefore, preserving the C=O bond of Carbon dioxide is crucial for the desired reaction to occur. The Cu/ZnO catalyst can selectively activate and hydrogenate the C=O bond while minimizing the occurrence of undesired reactions, such as methanol decomposition and reverse water gas shift (RWGS) reaction.
Preserving the C=O bond of Carbon dioxide also helps to minimize the formation of undesired byproducts such as methane and water, which can occur through side reactions during the hydrogenation of Carbon dioxide. Therefore, the selective hydrogenation of Carbon dioxide to produce methanol requires the preservation of the chemical structure of CO2, specifically the C=O bond, to achieve high selectivity and efficiency of methanol production.

6. (1 point each) Table 1 describes some initial (before testing) and spent (after testing) properties of the