Hydrogen production via steam reforming of methanol has been studied over a series of CuO/ZnO/Al2O3 catalysts synthesized by the combustion method using urea as fuel. Furthermore, the effect of alumina loading on the properties of the catalyst has been investigated. XRD analysis illustrated the crystallinity of the Cu and Zn oxides decreases by enhancing alumina loading. BET showed the surface area improvement and FESEM images revealed lower size distribution by increasing the amount of alumina. EDX results gave approximately the same metal oxide compositions of primary gel for the surface of the nanocatalysts. Catalytic performance tests showed the well practicability of catalysts synthesized by the combustion method for steam reforming of methanol process. Alumina addition to the CuO/ZnO catalyst caused the higher methanol conversion and the lower CO generation. Among different compositions the sample with molar component of CuO/ZnO/Al2O3 = 4/4/2.5 showed the best performance which without CO generation at 240 degrees C its methanol conversion decreased from 90 to 60% after 90 h. Copyright (C) 2014, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.