Sponsor: UOP LLC

• Project duration: 10/1/2004 - 9/30/2007
• Total project (est.): $5,000,000
• Requested ATP funds: $1,999,998

Methane, the principal component of natural gas, is an abundant and inexpensive natural resource. The known methane reserves rival known petroleum reserves. Despite these attributes, it is typically only used as a fuel for power generation. The reason for this underutilization is that there are few commercially viable methods for converting methane to a more useful product. The most common chemical use of methane is to convert it (by an indirect oxidation process) to methanol, a commercially important alcohol and one of the top 25 chemicals produced worldwide. This is done by a high-temperature, high-pressure, two-stage steam reforming process to form synthesis gas (carbon monoxide and hydrogen) coupled with a methanol synthesis process that dates back to the 1920s. It's expensive, energy intensive, and impractical for use in the remote locations of many methane reserves. As a consequence, much of the nation's methane reserves are "stranded" in economically useless locations, such as Alaska and the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico. Even though a simpler, more efficient method for converting methane to methanol has been something of an energy holy grail for decades, none has been commercialized because of the difficulty in finding a sufficiently active and selective catalyst. To solve this long-standing problem, UOP LLC proposes a novel liquid-phase oxidation route for methane that divides the process into two steps: first, an organic hydroperoxide is generated which then activates a metal catalyst that converts methane to methanol. The proposed process takes place at relatively low temperatures and pressures, simplifying plant design and increasing safety. It would use readily available hydrocarbon sources and would require a less expensive plant, be cheaper to run, use less energy and produce fewer pollutants than the current technology. UOP will build on its recent invention of a low-cost method for the production of hydroperoxides. The company previously worked on an ATP project to develop novel combinatorial methods for the discovery of new, more effective catalysts, and those methods will be used to solve one of the current project's main technical barriers, the design of unique metal-peroxo catalysts that convert methane to methanol with 90 percent selectivity per pass and 20 percent overall yield. If successful, this project will result in a low-cost, economically viable, and safe methane conversion method that will improve the utilization of the nation's stranded natural gas and significantly reduce methanol's price. The inexpensive methanol produced by this process would, in turn, be an attractive feedstock for major chemical processes and for liquid fuels. The proposed project represents a radical departure from current technology and sets very high goals -- the proposed conversion efficiency is twice as high as any achieved by previous direct methane conversion technologies. Because of the high technical risk of the project, UOP is unable to pursue the project without the leverage of ATP support.

For project information:

Michele Weber, (847) 391-1319
michele.weber@uop.com

ATP Project Manager

Robert Fireovid, 301-975-5457
robert.fireovid@nist.gov

This is the fact sheet for this project as it was announced on September 28, 2004.
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