(370a) Methane and Ethane to High Value Products – Pushing Beyond Historical Paradigms

Since the early 1920s, there has been considerable research and innovation on the conversion of natural gas to useful fuels and chemicals. Most large scale commercialization efforts have focused on Fischer-Tropsch based processes, however the introduction of new and growing gas reserves in the US as sparked a resurgence of research efforts for more direct natural gas conversion technologies. While the drive to invent new technologies focused on reducing process steps, capital and operating costs, has been ongoing since the early 1980s, these new technologies have not been commercialized. This paper will give a historical perspective on the development of direct methane conversion technologies, including Oxidative Couple of Methane (OCM). The recent advances in OCM will be compared to the technical and commercial opportunities for the conversion of ethane via Oxidative Dehydrogenation (ODH). EcoCatalytic will discuss its recent discoveries in both advanced OCM and ODH systems and present high level cost comparisons to commercially practiced technologies.