Technology Database  Chemistry OBTAINING HIGH OCTANE HYDROCARBONS BY CATALYTIC CONVERSION OF METHANE
Obtaining
High Octane Hydrocarbons By Catalytic Conversion Of Methane
Natural gas is a power source of
the 21st century; its potential resources are 1.5 times larger than known ones
and even in the second half of the next century there will be no problem with
shortages. Recently there have been many research projects on the applications
of natural gas. One of them is the transformation of the lowest alkans, above
all methane, into hydrocarbons of a greater molecular mass to expand the raw
base of ecologically pure motor fuel.
 We propose a “one step”
catalytic conversion of methane initiated by methanol. The conversion was
carried out with a small energy input, due to the configuration of an exothermic
reaction of the disintegration of methanol, and an endothermic reaction of the
transformation of methane.
The investigation was originally
carried out in a microreactor-mass-spectrometer system which allowed for
research on the composition and structure of the reaction products and of the
mechanism of the process. It was found that a molecule of methanol interacts
with the surface of the catalyst, forming an active particle-carbon radical
which strikes a methane molecule on the C-H bond and involves it in consecutive
reactions producing an octane number which was calculated as consisting of 94
items.
The second phase of the
investigation process was carried out on the experimental installation: the
quantity of the catalyst containing zeolite alumosilicate) was 100 gr, the
temperature was 400°C, and the quantities of methan/methanol entered into the
reactor were 40 ml and 25 ml per hour respectively. The conversion of methane
and methanol were 80% and 100% of weight respectively. The octane number of
liquid products (the basic component was alkilbenzenes) was 94 items.
The gaseous products were
channeled for recirculation to increase the output of liquid products. The water
formed during the reaction did not contained methanol.
The proposed process for obtaining a
high-octane component of petrol has the following advantages:
- The conversion installation does not require
large energy expenditures and works at atmospheric pressure.
- Due to comparative technological simplicity, the
installation can be placed near gas and gas condensate deposits, and the mix
with low-octane fractions of gas condensate yields ecologically pure motor
fuel.
The use of raw material which is
not of petroleum origin expands the resources of automobile petrol production by
37%.
Source: SciTecLibrary.ru
Publishing date: December 14, 2000
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