Perspective on methane-to-methanol valorization
- D-CHAB
- ICB
Scientists from ETH Zurich and PSI discuss the misconceptions and challenges associated with methane-to-methanol oxidation in a Perspective article.
The valorization of methane, which is a byproduct of crude oil extraction, is highly desirable but industrial feasibility is still under debate.
It needs no introduction that crude oil reserves are fundamental to the functioning of our automobiles and public transportation systems. However, at the sites that generate the fuel for our vehicles, associated natural gas is merely flared to carbon dioxide and released to the atmosphere. The volume of such gas flares worldwide amounts to more than a hundred billion cubic meters, a corresponding market value of $20 billion, and one might wonder how injudicious we have been in handling this resource.
Nevertheless, the flaring of natural gas is more a reflection of the difficulty in its valorization from dispersed sources, such as oil fields, rather than a lack of desire to do so. The long-standing ambition has been to figure out a more prudent use of methane. The on-site conversion of methane – the principal component of natural gas – to methanol is an attractive and, at the same time, challenging route. Interestingly, bacteria can perform the transformation of methane to methanol in a highly efficient way. So, can we design a heterogeneous inorganic process that truly mimics the performance of bacteria and enzymes? Can a direct methane-to-methanol process be industrially feasible in the near future? Which are the most promising approaches and what are the kind of systems that need to be engineered? Answers to such questions and more form the basis of this Perspective article in the journal Nature Catalysis.
Reference
Manoj Ravi, Vitaly L. Sushkevich, Amy J. Knorpp, Mark A. Newton, Dennis Palagin, Ana B. Pinar, Marco Ranocchiari & Jeroen A. van Bokhoven. Nature Catalysis (2019) Misconceptions and challenges in methane-to-methanol over transition-metal-exchanged zeolites. doi external page 10.1038/s41929-019-0273-z