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U.S. Department of Energy
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Direct conversion of methane to C sub 2 's and liquid fuels

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/6166436· OSTI ID:6166436

Objectives of the project are to discover and evaluate novel catalytic systems for the conversion of methane or by-product light hydrocarbon gases either indirectly (through intermediate light gases rich in C{sub 2}'s) or directly to liquid hydrocarbon fuels, and to evaluate, from an engineering perspective, different conceptualized schemes. The approach is to carry out catalyst testing on several specific classes of potential catalysts for the conversion of methane selectively to C{sub 2} products. Promoted metal oxide catalysts were tested. Several of these exhibited similar high ethylene to ethane ratios and low carbon dioxide to carbon monoxide ratios observed for the NaCl/{alpha}-alumina catalyst system reported earlier. Research on catalysts containing potentially activated metals began with testing of metal molecular sieves. Silver catalysts were shown to be promising as low temperature catalysts. Perovskites were tested as potential methane coupling catalysts. A layered perovskite (K{sub 2}La{sub 2}Ti{sub 3}O{sub 10}) gave the highest C{sub 2} yield. Work continued on the economic evaluation of a hypothetical process converting methane to ethylene. An engineering model of the methane coupling system has been prepared. 47 refs., 17 figs., 57 tabs.

Research Organization:
Union Carbide Chemical and Plastics Co., Inc., South Charleston, WV (USA)
Sponsoring Organization:
DOE/FE
DOE Contract Number:
AC22-87PC79817
OSTI ID:
6166436
Report Number(s):
DOE/PC/79817-3; ON: DE91005869
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English