| Project Detail |
Research could remove barriers to directly converting methane to ethylene
Direct conversion of methane, the main constituent of natural gas, to ethylene, a hydrocarbon widely used in chemical products, has long been the holy grail of industrial chemistry. Oxidative coupling of methane (OCM) is deemed to be a potentially efficient method, but it has not yet become feasible. Increased understanding of how the reaction proceeds in space and time in the reactor and advanced efficient catalysts are crucial for rendering OCM commercially practical. Funded by the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions programme, the KinGrad-OCM project aims to develop new on-site techniques for studying the OCM reaction both in conventional furnace-heated and microwave-assisted reactors.
Abundant availability of methane makes this compound being a potential substitute to crude oil for ethylene production if such chemical conversion is feasible. The direct transformation of methane into olefins via Oxidative Coupling of Methane (OCM) is nowadays still considered as a “dream” reaction for the direct production of ethylene from methane. This process remains a huge challenge in chemical engineering research. A better understanding on how the reaction proceeds in space and time in the reactor (mechanism and kinetics of the process) and the development of advanced efficient catalysts are crucial steps to achieve the industrial implementation of the process. The traditional methodology to evaluate catalytic performance and addressing kinetic analyses, which consists on the assumption of a constant temperature for the catalytic bed and the evaluation of the gas composition at the reactor outlet, seems not to be a suitable strategy for chemical processes such as OCM. KinGrad-OCM aims to set up a new methodological approach based on the application of operando spatial reactor analysis techniques for the study of the OCM reaction both in conventional furnace heated and microwave-assisted reactors. A particular focus is given to the assessment of reaction kinetic by the operando spatial reactor analysis through the physicochemical gradients present in the reactors. The successful application of the gradient approach, proposed in KinGrad-OCM, for assessing kinetic studies will yield a new perspective to both catalyst and reactor design not only for the OCM process but also for other complex chemical reactions. |
