Oxidative coupling of methane over a La2O3/CaO catalyst. Optimization of reaction conditions in a bubbling fluidized‐bed reactor

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Abstract
Oxidative coupling of methane over a La2O3/CaO catalyst was investigated in laboratory‐scale fluidized‐bed reactors (ID = 5 and 7 cm) in the following range of reaction conditions: T = 700 – 880°C, P = 41 – 72 kPa and P = 6 – 29 kPa. The maximum C2+ selectivity and yield amounted to 73.8% (T = 800°C, X = 13.1%, Y = 9.7%) and 16.0% (T = 840°C, X = 34.0%, S = 47.2%), respectively. Axial gas concentration profiles revealed that C2+ selectivity was not only influenced by oxidative consecutive reactions, but also by steam reforming of ethylene. When diluting the catalytic bed (mcat = 145 g) with quartz (m = 200 and 400 g), a slight decrease of the selectivity (1–2%) was observed. The dilution of the feed gas with nitrogen only led to only a small increase (< 2%) of the C2+ selectivity.