\University of Southern California (USC) scientists have unlocked a new, more efficient pathway for converting methane — a potent gas contributing to climate change — directly into basic chemicals for manufacturing plastics, agrochemicals and pharmaceuticals.
In a research published in the journal of the American Chemical Society, chemists have found a way to help to use this abundant and dangerous greenhouse gas, which is generally burnt or flared to produce energy.
Among common greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide is often cited as the largest culprit for trapping heat on Earth, which contributes to climate change. However, it is not the most potent.
That distinction belongs to methane. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, methane traps heat and warms the planet 86 times more than carbon dioxide over a 20-year horizon.
More fuel, fewer emissions, reduced energy use
Lead author Patrice TD Batamack, senior author GK Surya Prakash and Thomas Mathew of the USC institute used a catalyst called H-SAPO-34, which was derived from a class of nanoporous crystals called zeolites.
This simple method of converting methane directly to ethylene and propylene, or olefin, would replace what are traditionally difficult, expensive and inefficient processes that add greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. The majority of ethylene and propylene is produced from petroleum oil and shale liquid cracking, which consumes enormous amounts of energy.
When USC’s first Nobel Prize winner, George Olah, converted methane to olefin in 1985, the process required three steps. Since then, researchers have reduced it to two steps, but the Loker team is the first to realize the conversion with a single catalyst based on zeolites.
\University of Southern California (USC) scientists have unlocked a new, more efficient pathway for converting methane — a potent gas contributing to climate change — directly into basic chemicals for manufacturing plastics, agrochemicals and pharmaceuticals.
In a research published in the journal of the American Chemical Society, chemists have found a way to help to use this abundant and dangerous greenhouse gas, which is generally burnt or flared to produce energy.
Among common greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide is often cited as the largest culprit for trapping heat on Earth, which contributes to climate change. However, it is not the most potent.
That distinction belongs to methane. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, methane traps heat and warms the planet 86 times more than carbon dioxide over a 20-year horizon.
More fuel, fewer emissions, reduced energy use
Lead author Patrice TD Batamack, senior author GK Surya Prakash and Thomas Mathew of the USC institute used a catalyst called H-SAPO-34, which was derived from a class of nanoporous crystals called zeolites.
This simple method of converting methane directly to ethylene and propylene, or olefin, would replace what are traditionally difficult, expensive and inefficient processes that add greenhouse gases to the atmosphere. The majority of ethylene and propylene is produced from petroleum oil and shale liquid cracking, which consumes enormous amounts of energy.
When USC’s first Nobel Prize winner, George Olah, converted methane to olefin in 1985, the process required three steps. Since then, researchers have reduced it to two steps, but the Loker team is the first to realize the conversion with a single catalyst based on zeolites.
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