Oxidative coupling of methane

1. A process for oxidative coupling of methane (OCM), comprising the steps of:

(a) contacting, in a reactor, oxygen and methane with an OCM catalyst, resulting in a reactor effluent comprising ethylene, ethane, methane, carbon dioxide and water;

(b) cooling the reactor effluent to obtain a liquid stream comprising water and a gas stream comprising ethylene, ethane, methane and carbon dioxide;

(c) removing carbon dioxide from at least a part of the gas stream comprising ethylene, ethane, methane and carbon dioxide resulting in a gas stream comprising ethylene, ethane and methane;

(d) passing at least a part of the gas stream comprising ethylene, ethane and methane as obtained in step (c) through a membrane to obtain a stream comprising ethane and methane and a stream comprising ethylene and ethane;

(e) feeding the stream comprising ethane and methane as obtained in step (d) to a distillation column to obtain a stream comprising ethane and a stream comprising methane;

(f) optionally feeding at least a part of the stream comprising methane as obtained in step (e) to step (a);

(g) passing at least a part of the stream comprising ethylene and ethane as obtained in step (d) through a second membrane to obtain a stream comprising ethane and ethylene and a stream comprising ethylene; and

(h) optionally feeding at least a part of the stream comprising ethane and ethylene as obtained in step (g) to the membrane used in step (d), or optionally feeding at least a part of the stream comprising ethane and ethylene as obtained in step (g) to step (a).

2. The process according to claim 1 , wherein the membrane comprises metal cations.

3. The process according to claim 2 , wherein the membrane comprises silver(I) ions (Ag+ions) or copper(I) ions (Cu + ions).

4. A process for oxidative coupling of methane (OCM), comprising the steps of:

(a) contacting, in a reactor, oxygen and methane with an OCM catalyst, resulting in a reactor effluent comprising ethylene, ethane, methane, carbon dioxide and water;

(b) cooling the reactor effluent to obtain a liquid stream comprising water and a gas stream comprising ethylene, ethane, methane and carbon dioxide;

(c) removing carbon dioxide from at least a part of the gas stream comprising ethylene, ethane, methane and carbon dioxide resulting in a gas stream comprising ethylene, ethane and methane;

(d) passing at least a part of the gas stream comprising ethylene, ethane and methane as obtained in step (c) through a membrane to obtain a stream comprising ethane and methane and a stream comprising ethylene and ethane;

(eA) feeding the stream comprising ethane and methane as obtained in step (d) to a Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) unit to obtain a stream comprising ethane and a stream comprising methane; and

(fA) optionally feeding at least a part of the stream comprising methane as obtained in step (eA) to step (a).

5. The process according to claim 4 , wherein step (d) is followed by the following steps:

(gA) passing at least a part of the stream comprising ethylene and ethane as obtained in step (d) through a second membrane to obtain a stream comprising ethane and ethylene and a stream comprising ethylene; and

(hA) optionally feeding at least a part of the stream comprising ethane and ethylene as obtained in step (gA) to the membrane used in step (d), that is to say to the first membrane, or optionally feeding at least a part of the stream comprising ethane and ethylene as obtained in step (gA) to step (a).

6. The process according to claim 5 , wherein the second membrane comprises metal cations.

7. The process according to claim 6 , wherein the second membrane comprises silver(I) ions (Ag + ions) or copper(I) ions (Cu + ions).

8. The process according to claim 4 , wherein step (d) is further followed by:

(gB) feeding the stream comprising ethylene and ethane as obtained in step (d) to a distillation column to obtain a stream comprising ethane and a stream comprising ethylene; and

(hB) optionally feeding at least a part of the stream comprising ethane as obtained in step (gB) to step (a).

9. A process for oxidative coupling of methane (OCM), comprising the steps of:

(a) contacting, in a reactor, oxygen and methane with an OCM catalyst, resulting in a reactor effluent comprising ethylene, ethane, methane, carbon dioxide and water;

(b) cooling the reactor effluent to obtain a liquid stream comprising water and a gas stream comprising ethylene, ethane, methane and carbon dioxide;

(c) removing carbon dioxide from at least a part of the gas stream comprising ethylene, ethane, methane and carbon dioxide resulting in a gas stream comprising ethylene, ethane and methane, wherein at least a part of the gas stream comprising ethylene, ethane and methane is subjected to distillation, resulting in a stream comprising methane and a stream comprising ethylene, ethane and methane,

(d)passing at least a part of the gas stream comprising ethylene, ethane and methane as obtained in step (c) through a membrane to obtain a stream comprising ethane and methane and a stream comprising ethylene and ethane;

(eA) feeding the stream comprising ethane and methane as obtained in step (d) to a Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) unit to obtain a stream comprising ethane and a stream comprising methane;

(fA) optionally feeding at least a part of the stream comprising methane as obtained in step (eA) to step (a); and

(gC) optionally feeding at least a part of the stream comprising methane as obtained in the distillation to step (a).

10. A process for oxidative coupling of methane (OCM), comprising the steps of:

(a) contacting, in a reactor, oxygen and methane with an OCM catalyst, resulting in a reactor effluent comprising ethylene, ethane, methane, carbon dioxide and water;

(b) cooling the reactor effluent to obtain a liquid stream comprising water and a gas stream comprising ethylene, ethane, methane and carbon dioxide;

(c) removing carbon dioxide from at least a part of the gas stream comprising ethylene, ethane, methane and carbon dioxide resulting in a gas stream comprising ethylene, ethane and methane, wherein at least a part of the gas stream comprising ethylene, ethane and methane is fed to a first Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) unit, resulting in a stream comprising methane and a stream comprising ethylene, ethane and methane stream is fed to step (d);

(d) passing at least a part of the gas stream comprising ethylene, ethane and methane as obtained in step (c) through a membrane to obtain a stream comprising ethane and methane and a stream comprising ethylene and ethane;

(eA) feeding the stream comprising ethane and methane as obtained in step (d) to a second PSA unit to obtain a stream comprising ethane and a stream comprising methane;

(fA) optionally feeding at least a part of the stream comprising methane as obtained in step (eA) to step (a); and

(gC) optionally feeding at least a part of the stream comprising methane as obtained in the first PSA step to step (a).

11. A process for oxidative coupling of methane (OCM), comprising the steps of:

(a) contacting, in a reactor, oxygen and methane with an OCM catalyst, resulting in a reactor effluent comprising ethylene, ethane, methane, carbon dioxide and water;

(b) cooling the reactor effluent to obtain a liquid stream comprising water and a gas stream comprising ethylene, ethane, methane and carbon dioxide;

(c) removing carbon dioxide from at least a part of the gas stream comprising ethylene, ethane, methane and carbon dioxide resulting in a gas stream comprising ethylene, ethane and methane, wherein at least a part of the gas stream comprising ethylene, ethane and methane is fed to a first Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) unit, resulting in a stream comprising methane and ethane and a stream comprising ethylene, ethane and methane; (d) passing at least a part of the gas stream comprising ethylene, ethane and methane as obtained in step (c) through a membrane to obtain a stream comprising ethane and ethylene and a stream comprising ethylene; the stream comprising ethane and ethylene as obtained in step (d) is recycled to the first PSA unit;

wherein the stream comprising methane and ethane as obtained in the first PSA step is fed to a second PSA unit to obtain a stream comprising ethane and a stream comprising methane; and at least a part of the stream comprising methane as obtained in the second PSA step is optionally fed to step (a).

12. The process according to claim 11 , wherein the membrane comprises metal cations.

13. The process according to claim 12 , wherein the membrane comprises silver(I) ions (Ag + ions) or copper(I) ions (Cu + ions).