ABSTRACT
The synthesis of methanol from natural gas coupled with Mobil’s Methanol-to-Gasoline (MTG) process is one of the newest technologies for the conversion of methane to liquid hydrocarbons using shape selective zeolites as the catalyst. Another approach involves the direct conversion of natural gas to hydrocarbons by an oxidative coupling reaction. A significant improvement in the energy efficiency of any two-stage conversion process is possible if the two separate stages can be combined into a single stage such that the endothermic gasification reaction is coupled with the exothermic Carbon monoxide reduction reaction. In this single stage process, the removal of oxygen from the biomass occurs simultaneously with the enrichment of the hydrogen content of the liquid product. In more recent years, considerable international research efforts have been devoted to the development of methods to increase the yield of pyrolysis liquid and to apply catalysis to upgrade the pyrolysis liquid to gasoline like liquids.
