Conversion of methane to ethylene

Abstract

A lithium aluminate - MgO catalyst has been found to convert methane to ethylene with a high selectivity. The rate of conversion increased when a MoO3 co-catalyst was used to remove the poisoning products. It is shown that for optimum conversion and selectivity to ethylene, the oxygen pressure should be at an intermediate value, high enough to provide active sites but low enough to avoid ethylene oxidation. Thus the oxygen should be "bled-in" along the catalyst bed. In demonstration of these concepts we have shown a 28.6% CH4 conversion with 63.2% ethylene selectivity and 9.8% ethane, producing a C2 yield of about 21.4%.