On the design, development and operation of an energy efficient CO2 removal for the oxidative coupling of methane in a miniplant scale

Abstract

The catalytic oxidative coupling of methane to higher hydrocarbons (OCM) as an alternative route to ethylene or liquid fuels obtained much attention. Besides the intensive research and novel developments in the catalyst field are a number of investigations conducted with reaction and separation engineering aspects at the TU Berlin. The aim of this research is the demonstration of the technical feasibility of the OCM process, including product recovery in a miniplant scale. In this article the gas treatment of the reaction product gas is discussed as a key part of the production chain from raw material to the product. In the OCM process the CO2 is treated as an unwanted by-product or waste. Nevertheless, the energy and the costs requirements for the whole OCM process are crucial for industrial applicability and must be kept as low as possible to operate economically. Therefore different separation methods are examined and several process alternatives are investigated. In this article the energy saving of a hybrid separation process based on a membrane-absorption process for the CO2 capture of the OCM process is presented and proved experimentally in miniplant scale. In a case study of the oxidative coupling of methane (OCM) process the development of an integrated gas treatment process for CO2 capture in the miniplant scale is presented and experimental results are discussed.