Direct catalytic conversion of methane and light hydrocarbon gases. Quarterly report No. 2, January 16, 1987--April 15, 1987

The goal of this research is to develop catalysts that directly convert methane and light hydrocarbons to intermediates that can, as economics dictate, be subsequently converted either to liquid fuels or value-added chemicals. In this program we are exploring two approaches to developing such catalysts. The first approach consists of developing advanced catalysts for reforming methane. We will prepare the catalysts by reacting organometallic complexes of transition metals (Fe, Ru, Rh, and Re) with zeolitic and rare-earth-exchanged zeolitic supports to produce surfaceconfined metal complexes in the zeolite pores. Our second approach entails synthesizing the porphyrin and phthalocyanine complexes of Cr, Mn, Ru, Fe, and/or Co within the pores of zeolitic supports for use as selective oxidation catalysts for methane and light hydrocarbons. During the second quarter of this project, we concentrated on methane reforming. Two ruthenium clusters (Ru{sub 4} and Ru{sub 6}) supported on three types of support materials ({beta}-alumina, 5 {Angstrom} molecular sieves, and {gamma}-zeolite) were tested for methane reforming. The effects of cluster size, supporting material, and reaction conditions were evaluated. The methane conversions range from 1.74 to 10.11% at 750{degrees}C. The reaction product contains hydrogen, C{sub 2} hydrocarbons, and C{sub 6} or higher hydrocarbons. Up to 48.34% yield of hydrocarbon (C{sub 2}+) is obtained based on reacted methane. Some of these catalysts show very good coking resistance compared with a commercial ruthenium catalyst. Addition of oxygen to these reactions significantly increases the percent methane conversion at lower reaction temperature. However, carbon dioxide and water are the major products in the presence of oxygen