Kinetics and mechanism of oxidative coupling of methane over sodium‐manganese oxide catalyst

The kinetics of methane oxidative coupling (OCM) was studied using 1 g of Na‐Mn 2 O 3 catalyst at 1073 to 1123 K, in an integral flow reactor (I.d. = 10 mm), at atmospheric pressure with methane and oxygen partial pressures of 0.27 and 0.13 bar, respectively, so that the ratio of CH 4 to O 2 was 2. The flow rate range was 50 to 200 ml/min. the kinetic data were analyzed by the Rideal‐redox type of rate equation assuming the methyl radical and active surface oxygen to be the steady‐state intermediates. Oxidation and reduction rate constants ( K ox , K red ) for methane consumption were calculated from experimental catalysis results by computer simulation using the multiple least squares method. The activation energies at rate constants K ox and K red for this type of catalyst were reported as 43.26 and 62.2 kcal/mol, respectively.