The undiluted, non-catalytic partial oxidation of methane in a flow tube reactor – An experimental study using indirect induction heating

[Display omitted] ► A tubular reactor heated by indirect induction heating was used to study the non-catalytic partial oxidation of methane. ► Both diluted and non-diluted conditions were investigated. ► The effect of temperature, stoichiometry, flow rate and time-on-stream were investigated for non-diluted conditions. A gas-flow reactor system incorporating indirect induction heating was designed and operated for the non-catalytic partial oxidation of CH4. Indirect induction heating proved to be an effective heating method. In particular it was well suited to studying the undiluted, non-catalytic partial oxidation of CH4 due to its ability to respond to the rapid changes in temperature that accompany the ignition of the partial oxidation reaction. Experiments were conducted for both diluted and undiluted conditions. For dilute conditions the effect of temperature (1273–1773K) was studied. For concentrated conditions the effects of time-on-stream, temperature (1758–1865K), stoichiometry (1.59–1.74) and flow rate were investigated.