Process Intensification by One-Step, Plasma-Assisted Catalytic Synthesis of Liquid Chemicals from Light Hydrocarbons

Technical Report · Wed Mar 06 04:00:00 EST 2024

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/2318967· OSTI ID:2318967

Hicks, Jason ^[1]; Go, David ^[2]; Schneider, William ^[2]; O'Brien, Casey ^[2]

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1. University of Notre Dame, IN (United States); University of Notre Dame
2. University of Notre Dame, IN (United States)

In this project, we present a plasma-assisted, catalytic process that can handle variations in production rates and gas compositions of producing wells and reliably converts the hydrocarbons to gas phase olefins, high molecular weight alkanes, and liquid chemicals. The low-temperature plasma serves as a reactive chemical environment that activates and converts the light hydrocarbons to these valuable products. We present results from the integration of a catalyst into the low-temperature plasma zone to improve reaction efficiency and product selectivity. We show that the gas composition, bulk gas temperature, and input power of the plasma, with and without catalysts, influence the production rates of liquids from natural gas feeds.

• Research Organization: University of Notre Dame, IN (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM)
• DOE Contract Number: FE0031862
• OSTI ID: 2318967
• Report Number(s): ND0031862
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

03 NATURAL GAS