Toward Chemical and Thermal Synergies of Integrating Methane Oxidative Coupling and Dehydroaromatization across the Scales

Methane dehydroaromatization (MDA) is a one-step reaction that converts methane into aromatics and hydrogen with zero CO₂ emission from the reaction stoichiometry. Oxidative coupling of methane (OCM) is a one-step reaction that converts methane into valuable C₂+ products along with CO₂ as the main by-product. Although very attractive reactions, they are not yet commercialized due to multiple technical challenges. MDA is faced with the challenge of fast catalyst deactivation, thermodynamic limitations that limit maximum achieved conversion, and source of heating as the reaction is endothermic and requires high temperature. OCM is highly exothermic which requires strict and difficult heat management and has a tradeoff between C2+ selectivity and methane conversion. This work is an effort to address these technical challenging by integrating these chemistries toward achieving chemical and thermal synergies. Different options of integration are considered starting at the catalyst scale, to the reactor, and then the process scale. A structured approach to address such a complex problem across the different scales will be presented. At the reactor scale, experimental investigations will be presented to provide evidence for OCM-MDA catalyst integration benefits and limitations in the same reactor. The aim is to demonstrate the opportunities and limitations for developing this promising process concept.