SELECTIVE OXIDATION OF METHANE TO METHANOL AT HIGH-PRESSURES

Direct conversion of natural gas to liquid products has been under inv estigation for most of this century, but no commercial processes are p racticed to date. The partial oxidation of methane to methanol would b e a particularly attractive option of natural gas upgrading, provided yields in excess of 10% can be achieved. A large number of studies hav e been published on the subject over the past 70 years, but yields are in general low and more promising results difficult to reproduce. Thi s work focused on the homogenous gas phase partial oxidation of methan e to oxygenates in the temperature range 300-500-degrees-C and at pres sures of 3-6 MPa and compared the experimental results with model calc ulations. The most important parameters controlling selectivities and yields were identified as the temperature in the reaction zone and the reactor geometry. The best methanol yield achieved in our study was 1 .8 mol %. Innovative reactor design may result in significantly higher methanol yields than have been achieved to date.