Novel Catalyst for CH₄-CO Conversion--CeraMem Corporation, 12 Clematis Avenue, Waltham, MA 02453; 781-899-4495
Dr. Michael C.J. Bradford, Principal Investigator
Dr. Robert L. Goldsmith, Business Official
DOE Grant No. DE-FG02-99ER82762
Amount: $750,000

In current commercial practice, natural gas is converted to higher molecular weight hydrocarbons through an indirect route in which the natural gas is first converted to synthesis gas (a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide) and subsequently converted to liquids by available technology such as the Fischer-Tropsch process. Considerable economic benefits would accrue if new catalyst and process technologies could directly convert natural gas to liquids. This project will develop a novel catalyst for the direct conversion of methane to heavy aromatics (such as benzene, xylene, and naphthalene), light alkanes and olefins. The process will be suitable for fixed bed reactor technology and is thus capable of being quickly scaled up to commercial capacity. The Phase I project demonstrated the technical feasibility of the proposed process. Active catalysts were prepared, characterized and tested for CH₄ dehydro-aromatization. In addition, several multifunctional catalysts were prepared, characterized, and shown to promote aromatic formation during CH₄-CO conversion. Phase II will optimize the catalyst composition and process conditions for CH₄ conversion over the novel catalysts developed during Phase I. Both experiments and concomitant modeling (of thermodynamics, kinetics, transport phenomena, and process economics) will be undertaken to achieve this objective.

Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by the awardee: The technology could significantly increase the utilization of domestic and remote natural gas reserves because it directly converts natural gas to higher molecular weight products of substantially higher market value.