Methanol and carbon monoxide production from natural gas

The conversion of natural gas to methanol by partial oxidation is an area of considerable interest to industry because it provides a pathway which could eliminate the energy inefficient steps used in current technology. At present no catalyst has been developed which could replace current technology.;The homogenous partial oxidation of natural gas was studied at short residence times (6-17 seconds) in order to determine if a high methanol selectivity could be achieved by thermal partial oxidation. A kinetic reaction mechanism was developed from free radical kinetic data available from the literature. With minor adjustments in several published rate constants, there was good agreement between simulated and experimental data for the range of experimental conditions studied.;Metal oxides which had the potential for selectively producing methanol were investigated. Stannic oxide, molybdenum dioxide, vanadium pentoxide, tungsten trioxide and titanium dioxide were chosen because of their oxidation capabilities. Also, different reactor designs were investigated to determine if the type and materials within the reactor had an effect on producing methanol.;Experimental results indicate that homogeneous and catalytic reactions can occur simultaneously within the reactor. These types of reactions require the design of a unique catalytic reactor.;The initial goal was to form methanol with a 80 percent selectivity. However, after considerable effort methanol was only produced with a 30 to 50 percent selectivity under various reaction conditions. Even though the intended objective was not met, an equal ratio of methanol and carbon monoxide could be made under the right reaction conditions. There are commercial processes that use methanol and carbon monoxide. For example, acetic acid and acetic anhydride are made from methanol and carbon monoxide. Thus, natural gas could be an alternative supply for the production of these chemical products.