Process for converting methane into ethane in a membrane reactor

摘要

The invention relates to a process for producing ethane comprising contacting methane with a metal catalyst selected from metal hydrides, organometallic compounds, organometallic hydrides and metal clusters, in a reaction zone and forming a reaction mixture comprising ethane and hydrogen, the reaction zone comprising a membrane reactor equipped with a selective hydrogen-permeable membrane. It also relates to the use of such a membrane reactor for activating the metal catalyst to reach its maximum activity during the initial reaction phase in the process for converting methane into ethane. The membrane can be selected from microporous inorganic membranes and dense inorganic membranes preferably chosen from metallic, ceramic or cermet (ceramic-metal) membranes, preferably from palladium and/or palladium alloy membranes and from proton-conducting ceramic membranes. One of the main advantages of the process relates to the methane conversion rate which very quickly reaches an extremely high maximum during the initial reaction phase of the conversion, so that the global methane conversion rate is very high, while maintaining a very high selectivity for ethane.