Methane-to-aromatics in a gas recycle methane reactor/hydrogen membrane separator

Abstract

Direct non-oxidative methane conversion (DNMC) is one of the most promising options to convert methane (CH4) in natural gas in remote extraction sites to liquid aromatics, which is easier to transport compared to CH4 gas. The main constraint of the DNMC is low CH4 conversion, and thus aromatics product yield due to thermodynamic limitation. This work reports a gas recycle CH4 reactor/hydrogen (H2) membrane separator to achieve high CH4 conversion and aromatics yield by circumventing the thermodynamic limitation. The DNMC took place over an iron/silica (Fe/SiO2) catalyst in a packed-bed reactor to produce C2 (i.e. ethane, ethylene and acetylene) and aromatics, along with reaction product H2. The product stream passed through a condenser to collect aromatic products and then a H2-permeable membrane separator to remove H2. The unreacted CH4, C2 products and H2 residual in the product stream were sent to the recycle loop for the next round of DNMC reaction and H2 removal. The results demonstrated that >90 % product selectivity toward aromatics and >50 % aromatics yield are achieved in the gas recycle CH4 reactor/ H2 membrane separator system.