Possibility of methane conversion into heavier hydrocarbons using nanosecond lasers

•The experimental and the theoretical conversion of methane into higher hydrocarbons has been studied.•The energy consumption in production of one mole C2H2 is measured as 5.8 MJ, 3.1 MJ and 69.0 MJ, for wavelengths 355 nm, 532 nm and 248 nm, respectively.•In the theoretical study the conversion efficiency of methane is implemented using 4th order Runge–Kutta method.•In theoretical calculations, the ion-molecule reactions lead to a unique approach in proper explanation of the experimental measurements.

Effect of nanosecond lasers on the methane dissociation is experimentally studied by using three different laser wavelengths at 248 nm, 355 nm and 532 nm. C2H2 generation is measured as a major reaction product in experiments and the energy consumptions in production of this component are measured as 5.8 MJ/mol, 3.1 MJ/mol and 69.0 MJ/mol, for 355 nm, 532 nm and 248 nm wavelengths, respectively. The mechanism of conversion and production of new stable hydrocarbons is also theoretically investigated. It is found that in theoretical calculations, the ion-molecule reactions should be included and this leads to a unique approach in proper explanation of the experimental measurements.

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