Productivity enhancement for the oxidative coupling of methane in adiabatic layered-bed reactors

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 mr–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.