Recent progress in methane dehydroaromatization: From laboratory curiosities to promising technology

Direct conversion of methane to benzene or other valuable chemicals is a very promising process for the efficient application of natural gas. Compared with conversion processes that require oxidants, non-oxidative direct conversion is more attractive due to high selectivity to the target product. In this paper, an alternative route for methane dehydrogenation and selective conversion to benzene and hydrogen without the participation of oxygen is discussed. A brief review of the catalysts used in methane dehydroaromatization （MDA） is first given, followed by our current understanding of the location and the active phase of Mo species, the reaction mechanism, the mechanism of carbonaceous deposit and the deactivation of Mo/zeolite catalysts are systematically discussed. Ways to improve the catalytic activity and stability are described in detail based on catalyst and reaction as well as reactor design. Future prospects for methane dehydroaromatization process are also presented.

Methane dehydroaromatization with periodic CH_4-H_2 switch:A promising process for aromatics and hydrogen

Long-term stability test of Mo/HZSM-5-N catalysts（HZSM-5-N stands for nano-sized HZSM-5） in methane dehydroaromatization（MDA）reaction has been performed with periodic CH4-H2 switch at 1033-1073 K for more than 1000 h.During this test,methane conversion ranges from 13% to 16%,and mean yield to aromatics（i.e.benzene and naphthalene） exceeds 10%.N2-physisorption,XRD,NMR and TPO measurements were performed for the used Mo/HZSM-5 catalysts and coke deposition,and the results revealed that the periodic hydrogenation can effectively suppress coke deposition by removing the inert aromatic-type coke,thus ensuring Mo/HZSM-5 partly maintained its activity even in the presence of large amount of coke deposition.The effect of zeolite particle size on the catalytic activity was also explored,and the results showed that the nano-sized zeolite with low diffusion resistance performed better.It is recognized that the size effect was enhanced by reaction time,and it became more remarkable in a long-term MDA reaction even at a low space velocity.

Comparison of the activities of binder-added and binder-free Mo/HZSM-5 catalysts in methane dehydroaromatization at 1073 K in periodic CH_4-H_2 switch operation mode

Three industry-supplied, well-shaped Mo/HZSM-5 catalysts, two binder-added and one binder-free, were tested for the first time in methane dehydroaromatization to benzene at 1073 K and 10000 mL/（g·h） in periodic CH4-H2 switch operation mode, and their catalytic performances were compared with those of three self-prepared, binder-free powder Mo/HZSM-5 catalysts. XRD, 27Al NMR, SEM, BET and NH3-TPD characterizations of all the catalysts show that the zeolites in the two binder-added catalysts are comparable to those in the three binder-free powder catalysts in crystallinity, crystal size, micropore volume and Br{／o}nsted acidity. The test results, on the other hand, show that the catalytic performances of the two binder-added catalysts are worse than those of the four binder-free catalysts on both catalyst mass and zeolite mass bases. Then, TPO and BET measurements of all spent samples were conducted to get a deep insight into the negative effects of binder addition, and the results suggest that the binder additives functioned mainly to enhance the polyaromatization of formed aromatics to coke on their external surfaces and consequently lower the catalysts＇ benzene formation activity and selectivity.

Methane dehydroaromatization over Mo-modified H-MFI for gas to liquid catalysts

For direct gas to liquid（GTL）,a novel process producing energy sources for methane dehydroaromatization is needed.Supporting MoO3 on H-MFI zeolite shows the high catalytic capacity and a selective activity for dehydroaromatization of methane to benzene at 973 K in a fixed bed reactor.On the other hand,deactivation by coke on the active sites in all the catalysts is formed during the reaction.H2 co-feed suppressed the deactivation,which is probably due to the decrease in coking amount.Mo K-edge X-ray absorption fine structure（XAFS） results showed the formation of dispersed Mo2C species with low crystallinity after dehydroaromatization.Mo LIII-edge XANES（X-ray absorption near-edge structure） indicated the formation of active Mo species including Mo2C and Mo-oxycarbide（MoOxCy）,where the redox state should be independent in the absence/presence of H2.It is concluded that Mo-oxycarbide species act as highly active species,and their stability affected the durable activity in the presence of H2.

A ^(13)CO isotopic study on the CO promotion effect in methane dehydroaromatization reaction over a Mo/HMCM-49 catalyst

The promotion effect of CO in methane dehydroaromatization was investigated using ^13CO probe molecules. By alternative injection of ^13CO to the methane feed, the distribution of ^13CxC6-xH6（x= 0-3） products changed significantly, confirming the participation of ^13CO in the reaction network. The addition of ^13CO did not change the conversion of CH4 but improved slightly the durability of the methane dehydroaromatization （MDA） reaction, which might be caused by the interaction of the dissociated oxygen species and the deposited carbon species. The ratio of ^13CxC6-xH6 （x = 0-3） varied with the time on stream, which was determined by the competitive reactions of methane decomposition and ^13CO dissociation.

Effect of Dimethyl Ether Co-feed on Catalytic Performance of Methane Dehydroaromatization over Mo/HZSM-5 Catalyst

The effect of dimethyl ether (DME) co-feed on the catalytic performance of methane dehy-droaromatization (MDA) over 6Mo/HZSM-5 catalyst was investigated as a function of DME concentration under reaction conditions of T=1023 K, p=101 kPa and SV=1500 ml/(g·h). A high benzene yield was obtained and the stability of the catalyst was improved by adding 1.5%DME to the CH4 feed. The C6H6 yield was as high as ca. 10% even after reaction for 6 h. The stability of the catalyst was further improved when DME concentration in the co-feed gas was increased to an appropriate value. TGA and TPO results of the used 6Mo/HZSM-5 catalyst showed that the amount of coke on the used catalyst was reduced and the chemical nature of the coke was changed. When 1.5%DME was added to the CH4 feed, the coke formed on the catalyst could be burned off more easily than that when only CH4 was used as reactant. It is supposed that the oxygen in DME may play a role in preventing the coke burnt off at lower temperature from transforming into the coke burnt off at higher temperature, which results in the improvement of the stability of the catalyst.

Direct conversion of natural gas to higher hydrocarbons:A review

Direct conversion of methane to higher hydrocarbons is an effective process to solve the problem of natural gas utilization. Although remarkable progress has been achieved on the dehydro-aromatization of methane （DAM）, low conversion caused by severe thermodynamic limitations, coke formation, and catalysis deactivation remain important drawbacks to the direct conversion process. Molybdenum catalysts supported on HZSM-5 type zeolite support are among the most promising catalysts. This review focuses on the aspects of direct methane conversion, in terms of catalysts containing metal and support, reaction conditions, and conversion in different types of reactors. The reaction mechanism for this catalytic process is also discussed.