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Water-Gas Shift Reaction: Advances and

Industrial Applications
Makarand R Gogate*
Independent Consultant for Ch.E Education and Research, India
ISSN: 2637-8035
Opinion
In industry, the water-gas shift reaction (WGSR) describes the reaction of CO and water
vapor to form CO2 and H2, the two principal shift products:

CO + H 2O ⇔ CO2 + H 2 -40.6kJ / mol

∆H o r = (1)
As a stand-alone reaction, it is an important industrial reaction used in the manufacture
of ammonia, to balance the H2/CO ratio, and provide pure H2 at the expense of CO. It is also an
important side reaction that occurs in parallel to the main synthesis reactions in conjunction
with steam reforming of methane (over Ni-based catalysts), and methanol synthesis from
CO/CO2/ H2 mixtures (over Cu/ZnO/Al2O3) [1-4]. The WGSR is also a critical component in
reducing CO concentrations from feed gas streams in proton exchange membrane fuel cells
*Corresponding author: Makarand R (PEMFC). The Pt electrodes are highly susceptible to CO poisoning to levels as low as 1ppm
Gogate, Independent Consultant for Ch.E [5,6].
Education and Research, India

Submission: September 02, 2020

Published: October 01, 2020

Volume 3 - Issue 4

How to cite this article: Makarand

R Gogate. Water-Gas Shift Reaction:
Advances and Industrial Applications.
Progress Petrochem Sci. 3(4). PPS.
000569. 2020.
DOI: 10.31031/PPS.2020.03.000569

Copyright@ Makarand R Gogate, This

article is distributed under the terms of
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License, which permits
unrestricted use and redistribution
provided that the original author and
source are credited.

Figure 1: Syngas generation for ammonia synthesis: Steam reforming of

natural gas, HTS converter unit, LTS converter unit [10].

In most ammonia plants, the shift conversion is carried out in two stages: A high
temperature shift (HTS) conversion unit, which converts typically > 80% incoming CO, and
a low temperature shift (LTS) conversion unit, which converts majority of remaining CO.

Progress in Petrochemical Science 359

 PPS.MS.ID.000569. 3(4).2020 360

The HTS converter is typically operated at 310-450 oC, over a Cu- number, N), such as those at steps, corners, edges, and other planar/
promoted Cr-Fe mixed metal oxide catalyst (with a composition of border discontinuities. The effect of a low coordination number for
88% Fe2O3/9% Cr2O3/3% CuO). At these temperatures, the shift Au is enormous: In contradistinction with adsorption/activation
reaction is in chemical equilibrium, and the concentration of CO at characteristics of planar, metallic Au for O2/CO, the cus sites can
the reactor outlet is close to equilibrium levels, at 2-3% (v/v) at result in a site-specific adsorption of over 13-orders of magnitude,
400 oC. The LTS shift converter unit, over a commercial Cu/ZnO/ at low temperatures (OoC or higher), with very high turnover
Al2O3 catalyst (methanol synthesis catalyst), then converts majority rates and very low activation barriers (<20kJ/mol). Indeed, the
of remaining CO, to a concentration of ~1000ppm (or, 0.1%). The grand universality of catalysis by nanoscale Au and application
inlet temperature of the gas stream entering the LTS converter to catalysis of low-temperature CO oxidation reactions extends to
unit is typically in the range of 190-230 oC and is operated in the other organic reactions of small molecules, including the water-
adiabatic mode [7-9]. Due to the adiabatic nature of operation and gas shift reaction, synthesis of vinyl chloride monomer, synthesis
the exothermal reaction, the temperature at the converter outlet of hydrogen peroxide from H2 and O2, and others. As originally
can reach 280oC, and CO content is typically reduced to <0.1%. The proposed and validated by further studies, nanoscale Au dispersed
schematic diagram of steam reforming (of natural gas) in series on suitable supports is an “uncommonly good” catalyst.
with the HTS and LTS water-gas shift conversion units, for syngas
The production of pure H2 for use as in PEMFCs for streams
generation and purification for ammonia plants, is illustrated in
containing very levels of CO require catalysts with exceptionally
Figure 1 [10].
high activity at low temperatures. Under these conditions, the
The Cu/ZnO/Al2O3 WGS shift catalyst is highly susceptible to S WGS equilibrium is favoured, and stoichiometric conversions and
poisoning, even at trace (or, ppb levels). Ahead of the LTS converter chemical selectivity to products can be attained. As discussed
unit, a ZnO guard bed removes S (as H2S) from the LTS inlet stream, above, Au nanoparticles supported on a suitable oxidic support
typically operating at 370oC. The concentration of S leaving the such as Fe2O3, CeO2, and TiO2, highly active for low-temperature
guard bed is typically 10-50ppb, tolerant for the Cu/ZnO/Al2O3 shift CO oxidation reactions, are also exceptionally effective for low-
catalyst. temperature water gas shift reaction [16-21].
We now consider and discuss the application of water-gas References
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