Oxidative coupling of methane in a fixed bed reactor over perovskite catalyst: A simulation study using experimental kinetic model

The oxidative coupling of methane (OCM) to ethylene over a perovskite titanate catalyst in a fixed bed reactor was studied experimentally and numerically. The two-dimensional steady state model accounted for separate energy equations for the gas and solid phases coupled with an experimental kinetic model. A lumped kinetic model containing four main species CH4, O2, COx (CO2, CO),and C2 (C2H4 and C2H6) was used with a plug flow reactor model as well. The results from the model agreed with the experimental data. The model was used to analyze the influence of temperature and feed gas composition on the conversion and selectivity of the reactor performance. The analytical results indicate that the conversion decreases, whereas, C2 selectivity increases by increasing gas hourly space velocity (GHSV) and the methane conversion also decreases by increasing the methane to oxygen ratio.