Partial Oxidation of Methane over NiOx/Hierachichal ZSM-5 Catalyst

Methane is a primary component of natural gas that is considered a greenhouse gas. In this study, methane will be catalytically oxidized to methanol and its derivatives using hierarchical ZSM-5. The products are potential to be used as fine chemicals and additives in gasoline. The catalyst ZSM-5 (Si/Al = 35) was successfully synthesized by a double template method in which TPAOH is used as the MFI structure directing agent and PDDA-M is used as the secondary template. The as-synthesized hierarchical ZSM-5 was modified with metal oxide (M = Ni). Analysis with XRD indicates that ZSM-5 crystals have been formed with high crystallinity. SEM images showed hexagonal shape which is the characteristic of ZSM-5 crystals. Analysis with SAA indicated the presence of meso-sized pores by the presence of hysteresis loops. Surface area and pore volume have decreased after impregnation of Ni. Elemental analysis showed 2.73% nickel was loaded in the ZSM-5 framework. The catalytic reaction was carried out in batch reactor for 120 min. Two condition of gas feed was compared: CH₄: N₂ (without Oxygen) and CH₄: N₂-O₂ (with oxygen) with identical pressure ratio 0.75: 2 bar. Analysis by GC-FID showed that the catalytic activity of catalyst ZSM-5 with oxygen increase the methanol production.