Crystalline catalyst converts methane to methanol at room temperature

As a greenhouse gas, methane is 34 times more powerful than carbon dioxide, and its levels in the atmosphere are rising rapidly. One of

largest sources are“fugitive” emissions caused by leaks during the production, processing, storage or transportation of natural gas, accounting for up to 3.9% of global greenhouse gas emissions.

A possible alternative is the transformationmethane gas to liquid methanol to reduce fugitive emissions and simplify storage and transportation. Methanol can be used as a fuel or to make materials such as paint and plastics. The problem is that converting methane to methanol is usually an energy intensive process that requires extremely high pressures and temperatures.

Researchers from Stanford and LeuvenUniversity have developed a process that converts methane into methanol at room temperature without requiring additional heat or energy. Iron zeolites helped scientists in their new work. 

Researchers used them to createrequired chemical reaction. The substance served as a catalyst to convert methane to pure methanol. The resulting substance did not differ at all from its industrial analogue and had the same properties. In this case, the reaction proceeded freely at room temperature and under normal atmospheric pressure.

Commercially for conversionmethane to methanol requires high pressure and a temperature of at least 1000 ° C. Despite the simplicity of the new method, there are some difficulties. The first is the catalyst itself. To convert a gas into the simplest alcohol, special crystals are needed. Oxygen was another drawback. The industrial conversion of methane to methanol requires nitrous oxide. It is not needed for a new development, since oxygen is a good oxidizing agent. The difficulty is that its content is difficult to control and it is necessary to constantly maintain the required level to continue the reaction.

Despite this, scientists expressed confidence that in the future these two major shortcomings will be corrected and humanity will receive a new efficient and cheap fuel cell based on natural gas.

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