Process for converting alkanes to olefins
AssigneePrecision Combustion, Inc.
InventorJeffrey Weissman
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Abstract
A process and apparatus for converting an alkane to an olefin. In one embodiment, the process involves oxidative coupling of an alkane, e.g., methane, with an oxidant, such as air, to produce an olefin having twice the number of carbon atoms as the alkane, e.g., ethylene. In another embodiment, the process involves oxidative dehydrogenation of an alkane, e.g., ethane, with an oxidant to form an olefin having the same number of carbon atoms as the alkane, e.g., ethylene. The process involves passing a flow of the oxidant from a first flow passage through a porous medium; diffusing a flow of the alkane from a second flow passage into the porous medium; and contacting the reactant alkane and the oxidant in the presence of a catalyst within the porous medium to produce the olefin.
Claims13
A process of oxidative coupling for converting an alkane to an olefin having twice the number of carbon atoms as the alkane, comprising:
- (a) passing a flow of an oxidant through a first inlet into a first chamber defining a first flow passage;
- (b) passing a flow of an alkane through a second inlet into a second chamber defining a second flow passage, wherein a porous medium having an oxidative coupling catalyst supported therein separates the first flow passage from the second flow passage, wherein the oxidative coupling catalyst infills the porous medium at a depth from 40 to 60 percent of the thickness of the porous medium measuring from a side adjacent the second flow passage to a side adjacent the first flow passage;
- (c) applying a pressure in the first flow passage sufficient to provide a bulk flux of the oxidant through the porous medium into the second chamber;
- (d) adjusting the flow of the alkane such that a ratio of diffusive flux of the alkane into the porous medium to the bulk flux of the oxidant through the porous medium is greater than 1:1;
- (e) contacting the oxidant and the alkane at the catalyst within the porous medium under reaction conditions sufficient to produce the olefin, which has twice the number of carbon atoms as the alkane, and which thereafter flows into the second flow passage and exits through an outlet in the second chamber.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.