EFFECT OF QUENCHING ON THE METHANE COUPLING REACTION

The effect of reaction mixture quenching on C-2 product formation in t he methane coupling reaction on La2O3/CaO is disclosed. For reaction w ith the mixture (vol.%): 54.5 CH4, 9.1 O-2 and 36.4 N-2 at 973 K, quen ching of products results in a two-fold decrease in C-2 product yield. The results give evidence that in methane oxidative coupling methyl r adical formation can occur in the gas phase to an extent comparable wi th that on the catalyst surface. The effect described must be taken in to account in the case of an industrial application of methane oxidati ve coupling, too, because quenching is a regular procedure in the high temperature oxidative processes.