Investigation of the effect of total pressure on performance of the catalytic water–gas shift reaction using simulated coal-derived syngases

The effect of operating pressure on the water–gas shift (WGS) reaction rate over an iron-based high-temperature catalyst, and a Co–Mo based sour-shift catalyst, was investigated using simulated coal-derived syngas at 450 °C. For both catalysts, it was found that the CO conversion rate depends linearly upon total operating pressure. The apparent reaction orders used in a power-law rate expression, where the reaction orders were derived from experimental results at atmospheric pressure, are valid at elevated pressures up to at least 11 bar.