A multi-functional flow set-up was developed for the rate-and temperature-controlled reduction of copper catalysts, their application in high-pressure methanol synthesis and the determination of the copper surface area by N2O frontal chromatography. The influence of constant-rate reduction on the catalytic properties of a ternary Cu/ZnO/Al2O3 catalyst was investigated. The temperature during the constant-rate reduction was found to decrease, indicating autocatalytic kinetics, but no significant catalytic effect of the milder reduction conditions was observed compared with a slow linear heating ramp.