Oxidative coupling of methane over strontium-doped neodymium oxide: Parametric evaluations

Since its discovery in 1982, oxidative coupling of methane (OCM) has been considered one of the most promising approaches for the on-purpose synthesis of ethylene. The development of more selective catalysts is essential to improve process economics. In this work, undoped neodymium oxide as well as neodymium oxide doped with high (20%) and low (2.5%) levels of strontium were tested in a high-throughput fashion covering a wide range of operating conditions. The catalysts were shown to be able to achieve greater than 18% C2+ yield. Space velocity was shown to play a significant role in C2+ selectivity. For a methane to oxygen feed ratio of 3.5, selectivity increased with increasing space velocity, reaching a maximum of 62% at a methane conversion of 30% at an optimal space velocity of similar to 250,000 ml/h/g. The difference in activity between the three samples was linked to the contribution of different oxygen centers.

Automated summary

Since its discovery in 1982, oxidative coupling of methane (OCM) has been considered a promising method for synthesizing ethylene. In this study, undoped neodymium oxide and neodymium oxide doped with different levels of strontium were tested under various operating conditions. The results showed that the catalysts achieved C2+ yields greater than 18%, with the space velocity impacting C2+ selectivity. The difference in activity between the catalysts was attributed to the contribution of different oxygen centers.