[Haichuan Chemical News] Dow Chemical has begun research on the production of ethylene via methane coupling
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Dow Chemical Company has begun research on producing chemicals from alternative raw materials. They have invested heavily in research on the production of ethylene via methane coupling, and are further developing industrialization technologies. Dow stated that this is of great significance for developing natural gas resources in remote areas. Dow believes that the process of producing ethylene via methane coupling still needs improvement at the current stage; the yield of ethylene obtained using existing catalyst technologies is not sufficient to enable the rational commercialization of this process. For the direct conversion of methane into chemicals to be economically viable, improvements are still needed in catalysts, process procedures, and separation technologies. Dow expects to develop a methane conversion process within the next 10 years. The company states that if a suitable catalyst can be successfully developed, it will accelerate the adoption of this technology in its downstream operations. To address the complex chemical challenges associated with the process of producing chemicals from methane, Dow invested over $6.4 million in 2008 at Cardiff University in the UK and Northwestern University in the US to develop technologies for producing chemical intermediates from methane.
Methane coupling to produce ethylene: where does the other carbon come from? There have been several projects for producing ethylene through ethane cracking in the past.
Around the 1990s, my teacher had previously worked in Europe on a project related to the production of ethylene through methane oxidation coupling, 2CH4+O2=C2H4+2H2O; the conversion rate and selectivity seemed to not be very good
The technical cooperation teams of Group 610 and Group 102 at the Shanxi Coal Chemistry Institute presented the background and research progress of the development and industrial pilot project for the methane oxidation coupling process to produce ethylene (hereinafter referred to as OCM technology). The expert group agreed that the direct conversion of methane into ethylene represents a transformative energy and chemical technology. The breakthrough in this area will not only create a new route for ethylene production but also holds significant strategic importance for the efficient utilization of natural gas, as well as unconventional gases such as coalbed methane and shale gas. Breakthrough progress has been made in the key technologies of this project, namely the new high-efficiency OCM catalyst and the fluidized bed reactor; a comprehensive optimization design of the technical process has been completed, resulting in an OCM technology system with full independent intellectual property rights, offering bright prospects. The expert group believes that the technical approach and implementation plan for this project are scientific and reasonable, and recommends strengthening cooperation with engineering companies and related enterprises to accelerate technology research and development and project implementation, thereby promoting the industrialization of this technology. Mark Sutton, Director of Business Strategy Development at Jones Lang LaSalle, said that the new OCM technology developed by Shanxi Coal Chemical Research Institute is highly competitive, and its future market prospects are promising. He expressed the hope to strengthen cooperation with various parties, to actively participate in technology development and engineering efforts, and to work together to expand the global market.
The related research paper, titled \"MnTiO3-driven low-temperature oxidative coupling of methane over TiO2-doped Mn2O3-Na2WO4/SiO2 catalyst\", was published in Science Advances on June 9. PhD student Wang Pengwei and Associate Researcher Zhao Guofeng are the co-first authors of this paper, while Professor Lu Yong and Associate Researcher Zhao Guofeng are the co-corresponding authors; East China Normal University is the institution that independently carried out this research. It is reported that significant breakthroughs have been made recently in the research on the indirect synthesis of low-carbon olefins from non-petroleum resources via syngas (CO/H2). In particular, the technology of synthesizing methanol from syngas and then converting it into low-carbon olefins through catalytic transformation using SAPO-34 and ZSM-5 molecular sieves has already been put into industrial use. Nevertheless, the long indirect synthesis process, along with the high temperatures, high energy consumption, and high material consumption required for syngas production, are undeniable facts that to some extent reduce the competitive advantage of the indirect synthesis route. In particular, the indirect conversion of methane requires breaking all the C-H bonds that would otherwise remain in the product to produce syngas, which is then reorganized under the action of a catalyst to yield hydrocarbon products; hence, this method is not perfect. Therefore, the direct conversion of methane has always been the ideal pathway pursued by scientists, but it is extremely challenging. The direct oxygen-mediated coupling of methane to produce ethylene and propylene (i.e., methane oxidative coupling, or OCM) can be carried out under relatively mild conditions. Since its first report in 1982, hundreds of OCM catalysts have been developed. Among them, the Mn2O3-Na2WO4/SiO2 catalyst reported by Chinese researchers in 1992 is the most promising for practical application; however, its optimal reaction temperature remains as high as 800–900°C, which greatly limits its industrial use.