Although natural gas is an abundant resource, its utilization is limited due to the difficulties in storage/transportation and low chemical reactivity of its main component (CH4) for useful conversion. OCM (Oxidative coupling of methane) is usually re...
Although natural gas is an abundant resource, its utilization is limited due to the difficulties in storage/transportation and low chemical reactivity of its main component (CH4) for useful conversion. OCM (Oxidative coupling of methane) is usually regarded as one of the promising routes for utilizing natural gas (CH4), but the results are not satisfactory yet. In this study, research on catalysts for OCM reaction using Pb/Cl-substituted apatite catalyst, prepared by co-precipitation method, was carried out. For apatite catalysts which anion substitution ratio (OH/Cl) were intended to be 1:1 and 1:3, the best C2 yield (22.5%) was produced when Ca/Pb ratio was 8:2 and OH/Cl ratio was 1:3 (Pb(2.0)CaAp_Cl1.5). And we determined the optimum mixing conditions, such as stirring speed and mixing order of precursor solutions. For apatite catalysts which cation substitution ratio (Ca/Pb) was fixed at 8:2 and various anion substitution ratio (OH/Cl), C2 selectivities was evaluated under the same condition: the reaction temperature was 775oC and the CH4 conversion of each catalysts was fixed at 35% by adjusting the w/f value (in the range of 1.6 ~ 1.8×10-4gcat·hr/ml). Pb(2.0)CaAp_Cl1.5 catalyst showed the best C2 selectivity of 62%, and Pb(2.0)CaAp_Cl2.0 catalyst showed the worst C2 selectivity of 45%. The non-stoichiometry of prepared apatite catalysts was confirmed in the FT-Raman spectroscopy results. And through XPS, Pb cations of Pb(2.0)CaAp_Cl2.0 are positioned at the more electronegative environment than those of other catalysts. And the concentration of basic sites at Pb(2.0)CaAp_Cl2.0 is lower than that of Pb(2.0)CaAp_OH2.0 and Pb(2.0)CaAp_Cl1.5 at CO2-TPD. Moreover, the prepared Pb/Cl-substituted apatite catalysts maintained catalytic activities (C2 yield) and Pb, a catalytic component for OCM reaction for 30 hours at 800oC.