Abstract: The sintering rate of the Cu/Zn/Al/Zr methanol synthesis catalyst increased at high temperature. Equation k1/k10 = A×t–B can be used to describe the deactivation process. At low sintering temperature, surface migration and coalescence of catalyst particles were the main deactivation mechanism. With increasing sintering temperature, there was a larger contribution from atomic gas phase transfer to catalyst deactivation.

Key words: copper;zinc;aluminium;zirconium, methanol synthesis;deactivation;sintering