Abstract
The availability and low cost of shale gas has boosted its use as fuel and as a raw material to produce value-added compounds. Benzene is one of the chemicals that can be obtained from methane, and represents one of the most important compounds in the petrochemical industry. It can be synthesized via direct methane aromatization (DMA) or via indirect aromatization (using oxidative coupling of methane). DMA is a direct-conversion process, while indirect aromatization involves several stages. In this work, an economic, energy-saving, and environmental assessment for the production of benzene from shale gas using DMA as a reaction path is presented. A sensitivity analysis was conducted to observe the effect of the operating conditions on the profitability of the process. The results show that production of benzene using shale gas as feedstock can be accomplished with a high return on investment.
Highlights
The recent discoveries of large unconventional shale gas reserves have sparked a significant interest in their use as an energy source
Information Administration [3] has reported that 32% of natural gas reserves are found as shale gas, and that in 2009 proven shale gas reserves in the US numbered 60 TCF, while in 2013 this number increased to 160 TCF [4]
The process flowsheet developed in this work to produce benzene from shale gas is based on the methane dehydroaromatization reaction path
Summary
The recent discoveries of large unconventional shale gas reserves have sparked a significant interest in their use as an energy source. The direct aromatization of methane represents an attractive route for obtaining benzene from shale gas. This reaction has thermodynamic limitations, its high selectivity towards benzene makes it suitable for consideration [11]. Wang et al [12] reported that methane can be used over a Mo/HZSM-5-based catalyst to produce benzene as part of a complex reaction with a high selectivity (100%) but a low conversion level (7.2%). To prevent coke formation, an operation mode based on periodic oxygen pulsing added to the methane feed resulted in the production of synthesis gas as the main sideproduct of the coke combustion, along with an improved bezene yield [36]. An oxygen-transporting membrane was coupled to an MDA reactor to improve its performance due to a better oxygen distribution into the reactor [37], and the integration of an electrochemical BaZrO3 -based membrane into an MDA reactor resulted in improved aromatics yields, as well as better catalyst stability [38]
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