Competition between the gas and surface reactions for the oxidative coupling of methane 1. ‘Non-isothermal’ results in catalytic jet-stirred reactor

A catalytic jet-stirred reactor (CJS reactor) has been developed to investigate the interaction between gas-phase and surface reactions for the oxidative coupling of methane. This reactor allows the modification of the number of catalyst pellets (La₂O₃) for a fixed gas-phase volume. It permits also to set different temperatures for the gas-phase volume and the catalyst. The results of these ‘nonisothermal’ experiments are presented; they suggest that the contribution of the gas-phase reactions is rather significant and that the C₂₊ selectivity is improved by an increase of the gas-phase temperature up to 850°C.