In the United States and rest of the world, there are abundant shale gas resources which are either physically or economically stranded. Commercially, natural gas conversion to chemicals is based on an indirect conversion route via syngas, followed by subsequent conversion processes (methanol plus MTG process, or Fischer-Tropsch and product refining). The indirect conversion processes are very capital intensive, and less energy efficient. This presentation emphasizes the direct conversion of natural gas constituents (C1-C3) into aromatics and olefins using transition metal promoted ZSM-5 zeolite catalysts. Catalyst activity, selectivity, deactivation and regeneration of metal-promoted ZSM-5 zeolite catalysts will be discussed. We will introduce a new approach that employs low temperature plasma to intensify catalytic reaction for natural gas conversion. Under low reaction severity, this approach synergistically integrates plasma reaction chemistry with novel heterogeneous catalysis that decouples methane activation from catalytic surface reaction, shifting rate-determining step from methane activation (cracking C-H bond) to surface C-C formation. One of the focus area of the research is to elucidate deactivation mechanism of Ga-Pt prompted HZSM-5 and investigate feasibility of regenerating deactivated catalysts for commercial viability. The variation in daily production volume and the change in shale gas composition over time are hurdles to the engineering design of large chemical plants using shale gas as feedstock. The process intensified modular production at natural gas production site overcomes the hurdles with low capital requirements and flexible deployment and operation. What is process intensified modular production? It consists of novel apparatuses and techniques that, compared to those conventionally practiced today, are expected to bring dramatic improvements in manufacturing and processing, substantially decreasing the ratio of equipment size to production capacity. Most importantly, the process intensification should reduce energy consumption, waste production, and ultimately resulting in cheaper and sustainable technologies. This presentation includes direct natural gas conversion to aromatics using low-temperature plasma catalytic rector, natural gas pyrolysis for the production of CO2-free H2 and carbon nanotubes. The challenge in advance the fundamental science aspects presented in direct natural gas conversion will be discussed.

Direct non-oxidative conversion of shale gas to chemicals: Catalyst selective activation, regeneration, and process intensification

255th National Meeting (2018)

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.