OCMOL

Oxidative Coupling of Methane followed by Oligomerization to Liquids

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'The general objectives of the OCMOL project, focussed on the development of an alternative chemical route based on oxidative coupling of methane followed by oligomerization to liquids, are twofold: 1. To develop a small-scale process: process intensification via cutting-edge micro reactor technologies will enable to skip the expensive scaling up stage to provide a proof of concept of the OCMOL liquefaction route for companies to make go/ no go decisions. 2. To develop a fully integrated process, which will be self-sufficient through the re-use and the recycling of by-products at every process stages. Such an innovative route offers 4 main advantages: 1. An economic operation at capacities of 100 kT/year, which is nowadays not possible by using state of the art technologies. 2. An operation at more uniform pressure levels 3. The flexibility of product streams 4. Low if not zero CO2 emission thus contributing to face global warming. The OCMOL route to convert natural gas into liquid fuel will encompass methane oxidative coupling, methane dry reforming, membrane/PSA separation and oligomerization. Process intensification, such as the integration between methane oxidative coupling reactor, dry reforming reactor, and membranes integration will be one of the main challenges addressed to improve the energy efficiency of the whole process. A strong focus will be put on cutting-edge material science to develop effective catalysts/membranes which are of paramount importance to implement the innovative processes foreseen. Moreover, micro reactor technologies will be adopted to investigate novel reactor designs necessary to ensure the efficiency and the cost-effectiveness of the OCMOL solution.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

Scientists are developing energy-efficient processes to convert methane gas into liquid fuels. Flexibility, cost effectiveness and minimal emissions are the expected benefits.

Descrizione progetto (Article)

Global concern over the numerous problems created by dependence on fossil fuels has led to extensive research into alternative forms of energy. The world's natural gas reserves are almost equivalent to that of crude oil. However, it is more desirable to convert methane (the main component of natural gas) to other chemicals of importance to industry using gas-to-liquid (GTL) processes because of low efficiency of the methane combustion process.

Most of these processes are as yet expensive and consume a lot of energy. European scientists initiated the 'Oxidative coupling of methane followed by oligomerisation to liquids' (OCMOL) project to develop energy-efficient methods to convert methane to liquid fuel. Processes studied consist of oxidative coupling of methane (OCM, in which methane is coupled to ethane and ethylene and these are subsequently converted to liquid fuel) and methane dry reforming (a process to produce syngas). In addition, researchers investigated membrane/PSA separation (using pressure swing adsorption) and oligomerisation processes. Development of suitable catalysts and membranes were a key component of the efforts.

During the first two and a half years, scientists investigated a number of oxidative coupling methods and developed a catalyst for dry reforming. The team is now constructing a test unit to integrate the two processes. After investigating various separation techniques, scientists chose selective adsorption for further research. Candidate sorbents have been tested and the composite membrane developed and scaled up. The team has also selected catalysts for the conversion of syngas to liquid fuels and for oligomerisation. They have employed kinetic modelling to describe experimental data in both cases. Finally, material and energy balances have been assessed for individual reactors. Process simulation of a hypothetical plant and life-cycle assessment of the final process layouts have also been conducted.

Materials and processes developed for the OCMOL project should provide an energy-efficient and cost-effective route to the conversion of methane in natural gas to liquid fuels. Exploitation of the world's abundant natural gas reserves will help offset dependence on fossil fuel reserves.