Methane combustion in a catalytically stabilized thermal burner

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The chemical role of the catalyst in the catalytically stabilized thermal combustion of methane is investigated; platinum and manganese oxide catalysts were tested. Comparison of the performances of an externally heated catalytic wall tubular reactor and a non-catalytic alumina wall tubular reactor shows that complete conversion of methane is obtained at a slightly higher temperature in the catalytic flow reactor as a consequence of reactant depletion close to the wall due to heterogeneous reactions. However, a highly active catalyst such as platinum changes the selectivity dramatically, almost preventing the production of intermediate compounds and giving high combustion efficiencies.