Exploring strategies to improve yields of oxidative coupling of methane in a chemical looping system

Poster Division: Engineering: 1st Place (The Ohio State University Edward F. Hayes Graduate Research Forum)Since the shale gas boom, methane, a major component of shale gas, is an important source of energy in USA. Methane is largely viewed as a fuel, which is combusted in air it to produce CO2, H2O, and energy. However, there exist several technologies that utilize methane as a hydrocarbon precursor to produce chemical products. One such technology is chemical looping oxidative coupling of methane (OCM), for directly converting methane into higher hydrocarbons such as ethylene. Traditionally, a catalytic OCM system is employed for this reaction, where methane and molecular oxygen are co-fed over a catalyst bed. The chemical looping method utilizes the lattice oxygen in a catalytic oxygen carrier (COC) for methane oxidation. This novel process eliminates the inefficiencies associated with molecular oxygen, theoretically improving the performance over the catalytic system. This study highlights the formation mechanism of oxygen vacancies on the COC and its role in chemical looping OCM.A five-year embargo was granted for this item