Granted Patent B2

US 12,612,344 · App. 18/181,867 · Granted Apr 28, 2026

Inventors: Adrienne Tanur (Sunnyvale, CA); Ndifreke Ini Usen (Oakland, CA); Wayne P. Schammel (Brisbane, CA); Yacine Haroun (Lyons, FR); Erik M. Freer (Mountain View, CA); Joel M. Cizeron (Redwood City, CA)

Assignee: Lummus Technology LLC

C07C2/84B01J23/002B01J23/10B01J35/19B01J35/31B01J35/37B01J35/58B01J35/61B01J35/612B01J35/733B01J37/04B01J37/08B01D2255/2063B01J21/18B01J2235/15B01J2235/30B01J2523/25B01J2523/37B01J2531/25B82Y30/00C07C2521/02C07C2521/06C07C2523/02C07C2523/08C07C2523/10Y02P20/52

Abstract

Claims (19)

1 . A method for performing oxidative coupling of methane (OCM), the method comprising flowing a gas comprising methane from a front end to a back end of a catalyst bed that comprises a formed catalytic material comprising an OCM active catalyst supported or impregnated on a support, the catalyst bed having a total length L and a total OCM active catalyst surface area, wherein greater than 50% of the total OCM active catalyst surface area resides in a portion of the catalyst bed ranging from the front end to a distance equal to 50% of L, and wherein the formed catalytic material comprises a non-tessellating shape having a plurality of penetrating holes extending between opposing surfaces with at least one of the surfaces being a convex surface and a void fraction of greater than 0.3.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein greater than 60% of the total OCM active catalyst surface area resides in a portion of the catalyst bed ranging from the front end to a distance equal to 50% of L.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein greater than 70% of the total OCM active catalyst surface area resides in a portion of the catalyst bed ranging from the front end to a distance equal to 50% of L.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein greater than 80% of the total OCM active catalyst surface area resides in a portion of the catalyst bed ranging from the front end to a distance equal to 50% of L.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein greater than 90% of the total OCM active catalyst surface area resides in a portion of the catalyst bed ranging from the front end to a distance equal to 50% of L.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein greater than 50% of the total OCM active catalyst surface area resides in a portion of the catalyst bed ranging from the front end to a distance equal to 60% of L.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein greater than 50% of the total OCM active catalyst surface area resides in a portion of the catalyst bed ranging from the front end to a distance equal to 70% of L.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein greater than 50% of the total OCM active catalyst surface area resides in a portion of the catalyst bed ranging from the front end to a distance equal to 80% of L.

9 . The method of claim 1 , wherein greater than 50% of the total OCM active catalyst surface area resides in a portion of the catalyst bed ranging from the front end to a distance equal to 90% of L.

10 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the OCM active catalyst comprises an oxide of a lanthanide element and one or more doping elements selected from elements in groups 2, 6 and the lanthanides.

11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the OCM active catalyst comprises Ce 2 O 3 , Nd 2 O 3 or Pr 2 O 3 .

12 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the support comprises MgO, CaO, B 2 O 3 , Ga 2 O 3 , Al 2 O 3 , In 2 O 3 , SrAl 2 O 4 , B 4 SrO 7 , CaCO 3 , SrCO 3 , inorganic oxides, SiO 2 , TiO 2 , SrO, BaO, ZrO 2 , ZnO, LiAlO 2 , MgAl 2 O 4 , MnO, MnO 2 , Mn 3 O 4 , La 2 O 3 , Ln 2 O 3 , AlPO 4 , SiO 2 /Al 2 O 3 , activated carbon, silica gel, zeolites, activated clays, activated Al 2 O 3 , SiC, diatomaceous earth, magnesia, aluminosilicates or calcium aluminate, wherein Ln is a lanthanide element.

13 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the formed catalytic material is a tableted catalytic material.

14 . The method of claim 1 , having a methane conversion greater than 10% and a C2+ selectivity of greater than 50% at temperatures of about 700° C. or lower.

15 . The method of claim 1 , wherein a pressure drop across the catalyst bed is from about 0.05 bar/m to about 0.4 bar/m at a gas head space velocities (GHSV) ranging from about 15,000 hr −1 at STP to about 50,000 h −1 at STP.

16 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the catalyst bed comprises a length/diameter aspect ratio ranging from about 0.3 to about 1.0 and a pressure drop ranging from about 0.05 bar/m to about 0.50 bar/m for gas head space velocities of 15,000 to 30,000 hr −1 at STP.

17 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the catalyst bed comprises a length/diameter aspect ratio ranging from about 0.3 to about 0.75 and a pressure drop ranging from about 0.05 bar/m to about 0.50 bar/m for gas head space velocities of 15,000 to 45,000 hr −1 at STP.

18 . The method of claim 1 , wherein a reaction operation temperature of the oxidative coupling of methane is less than 470° C.

19 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the non-tessellating shape comprises one or more fluted edges.

Assignments (2)

Continuity (4)

References Cited (400)