Direct Conversion of Natural Gases to Aromatics in Solid-Oxide Membrane Reactor

Abstract

Non-oxidative conversion of natural gases within a solid-oxide ceramic membrane reactor to aromatics is a promising electrochemical process that can synthesize aromatics and hydrogen through methane dehydroaromatization (MDA) reaction with increased process efficiency. The introduction of the electrochemical current density significantly promotes the reaction equilibrium and avoids product separation procedure. The catalyst development and integration into reactor are two important aspects to achieve the enhanced conversion rate and yield. In this work, a new MDA catalyst has been developed to enhance the conversion and selectivity towards aromatics and other useful olefins with enhance coke resistance. The integration of this catalyst into the membrane reactor is also evaluated to study the optimal catalyst/electrode combination method and to investigate the role of hydrogen extraction on improving the aromatics and olefin yielding. The integration work will further demonstrate the capability of this technology in upgrading natural gases to chemical intermediates and aromatics.