CBET-EPSRC Direct methane conversion into valuable oxygenates via tandem catalysis

化学工业认识到解决可持续性原则的必要性，迫切需要将工艺设计为现代制造残留物的新范例，或者在不可避免的情况下将其回收利用。然而，可持续发展还要求设计最大限度地减少能源使用并将反应引向所需产品的化学过程，即以最低的能源消耗在所需的转化率上具有高选择性。催化必须是任何新的化学过程的核心，而活性、稳定和选择性催化剂的开发将是化学可持续性的关键。大多数工业化学过程涉及几个化学步骤，每个步骤通常使用不同的催化剂。每一步之间的产品分离和提纯还需要更多的设备和能源消耗，因此简化整个过程是非常有利的。在这个项目中，我们的目标是通过与多功能多相催化系统的串联反应来最大限度地减少化学过程中的单个步骤的数量，这些系统可以在一个反应中执行连续的化学反应，我们将使用微通道反应器来实现这一点。此外，我们的目标是实现这一点，用于制备关键的平台化学品，例如，醋酸是目前需要几个化学工艺步骤的主要化学中间体。该项目的主要目标是设计和开发多功能催化剂与微通道结构反应器相结合，通过串联氧化羰化过程将甲烷转化为包括甲醇和醋酸在内的高附加值含氧产物。串联多相催化的使用代表了催化剂和反应设计的一种非常新颖的方法。我们将探索使用微通道反应器进行甲烷氧化/羰化反应。催化剂合成将与反应性测试相结合，催化剂设计将由反应器数据驱动。催化剂将使用最先进的技术进行表征。工程学和科学学将以迭代的方式运作，每一个新的步骤都会通知整个方案。成功会是什么样子？成功将展示定制的微通道反应器与多功能催化剂相结合的潜力，产生增强的性能，可能导致催化串联反应的合成和应用的范式转变。

The chemical industry recognises the need to address the principles of sustainability and there is an urgent need to design processes as new paradigms in modern manufacturing residues or, if unavoidable, to recycle them. However, sustainability also requires the design of chemical processes that minimise the use of energy and direct the reaction towards the desired products, i.e. high selectivity at the required conversion with minimum energy consumption. Catalysis must be at the core of any new chemical process and the development of active, stable, and selective catalysts will be key for chemical sustainability. Most industrial chemical processes involve several chemical steps and each step often uses a different catalyst. Product separation and purification between each step also requires further equipment and energy consumption and hence it is highly beneficial to simplify the overall process. In this project, we aim to minimise the number of individual steps in chemical processes by tandem reactions with multifunctional heterogeneous catalytic systems that can perform the consecutive chemical reactions in one reaction, and we will achieve this using microchannel reactors. Moreover, we aim to achieve this for the preparation of key platform chemicals e.g. acetic acid is a major chemical intermediate that currently require several chemical process steps. The main objective of this project is to design and develop multifunctional catalysts combined with a microchannel structured reactor to convert methane into value-added oxygenate products including methanol and acetic acid via a tandem oxidative carbonylation process. The use of tandem heterogeneous catalysis represents an exceptionally novel approach to both catalyst and reaction design. We will explore the use of microchannel reactors for methane oxidation/carbonylation. Catalyst synthesis will be coupled with this reactivity testing and catalyst design will be driven by the reactor data. Catalysts will be characterised using state-of-the-art techniques. The engineering and science will operate in an iterative manner with each new step informing the overall programme. What will success look like? Success will be the demonstration of the potential of a bespoke combination of a microchannel reactor coupled with multifunctional catalysts, generating enhanced performance that could lead to a paradigm shift in the synthesis and application of catalytic tandem reactions.