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Oxidative Coupling of Methane in a Negative DC Corona Reactor at Low Temperature
Author(s) -
BagheriTar Faezeh,
Khodadadi Abbasali,
Malekzadeh Azim,
Mohajerzadeh S Shamsoddin
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
the canadian journal of chemical engineering
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.404
H-Index - 67
eISSN - 1939-019X
pISSN - 0008-4034
DOI - 10.1002/cjce.5450810104
Subject(s) - oxidative coupling of methane , methane , acetylene , chemistry , oxygen , atmospheric pressure , corona discharge , ethylene , yield (engineering) , radical , corona (planetary geology) , analytical chemistry (journal) , photochemistry , inorganic chemistry , materials science , electrode , organic chemistry , catalysis , physics , astrobiology , venus , oceanography , metallurgy , geology
Oxidative coupling of methane (OCM) in the presence of DC corona is reported in a narrow glass tube reactor at atmospheric pressure and at temperatures below 200°C. The corona is created by applying 2200V between a tip and a plate electrode 1.5 mm apart. The C 2 selectivity as well as the methane conversion are functions of methane‐to‐oxygen ratio, gas residence time, and electric current. At CH 4 /O 2 ratio of 5 and the residence time of about 30 ms, a C 2 yield of 23.1% has been achieved. The main products of this process are ethane, ethylene, acetylene as well as CO and CO 2 with CO/CO 2 ratios as high as 25. It is proposed that methane is activated by electrophilic oxygen species to form methyl radicals and C 2 products are produced by a consecutive mechanism, whereas CO x is formed during parallel reactions.