Ethylene production
via oxidative coupling of methane (OCM) in
adiabatic packed-bed reactors is a promising route within the context
of natural gas valorization. However, the high exothermicity of OCM
imposes low inlet temperatures and, hence, low space-time yields.
Layered-bed reactors are proposed in the present work as a potential
alternative to mitigate this issue. In this modeling investigation,
a first layer of active Sr/La2O3 catalyst is
followed by a second layer of more selective NaMnW/SiO2 catalyst. Optimized bed compositions and operating conditions are
shown to lead to up to a 10 times higher space-time yield compared
to a single-catalyst bed. The achieved values of ca. 15 molC2+ s–1 m
r
–3 are comparable to conventional values from steam cracking of ethane,
suggesting layered-bed adiabatic configurations as a promising way
forward for intensified ethylene production via OCM.
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