UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA USES PLASMA TO CONVERT GAS TO LIQUIDS

Although natural gas (methane) can be used to cleanly fuel an automobile, handling liquid fuels is more convenient.

Sponsored by United States Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory, the University of Oklahoma is developing novel, economical processes to convert methane to more valuable products such as synthesis gas, or to directly convert methane to methanol, ethylene and other organic oxygenates, or higher hydrocarbons. As an example, the researchers have developed a unique method that uses electric fields and plasma to convert methane to liquid fuel.

To convert methane to liquids at room temperature, the methane is initially reacted with steam and oxygen to produce a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen (synthesis gas). The synthesis gas is then heated in the presence of a catalyst to produce liquid hydrocarbons such as gasoline, diesel fuel, or wax, and water as a byproduct. The optimal conversion process would be one that could convert methane to liquid fuel in one step.

Although most researchers would consider methods that use high-energy electrical discharges and plasmas for making molecules undergo chemical reactions to be exotic, the use of a catalyst with plasma was found effective for converting methane with small amounts of oxygen to acetylene, hydrogen and carbon monoxide. Considerable effort still remains to develop a workable process.