Conversion of methane and acetylene into gasoline range hydrocarbons

Abstract

Conversion of methane and acetylene to higher molecular weight hydrocarbons over zeolite catalyst (HZSM-5) was studied The reaction between methane and acetylene successfully produced high molecular weight hydrocarbons, such as naphthalene, benzene, indene, azulene, fluorene, and biphenyl substituted compounds. Also, lighter hydrocarbons, such as ethylene and isobutene were produced. The reaction was conducted at different operating temperatures and different molar feed composition. The results showed that the conversion of both reactants increased with increasing the operating temperature; for example a conversion of 95.1% was achieved for acetylene at 350°C and 98.6% at 412°C. In addition, the conversion of both reactants decreased with increasing the molar feed ratio of methane to acetylene. A conversion of 96.4% for acetylene was achieved at a molar feed ratio of 6 to 1 (methane to acetylene) and 80.9% at a molar feed ration of 20 to 1 (methane to acetylene). The reaction of methane and ethane over HZSM-5 catalyst also led to the production of high molecular weight hydrocarbons, mainly aromatics, and some lighter products such as propane, and ethylene. Also methane by itself showed the ability to react over HZSM-5 to produce a small amount of aromatics, and ethylene.