A reasonable case could be made that the scientific interest in catalytic oxidation was the basis for the recognition of the phenomenon of catalysis. Davy, in his attempt in 1817 to understand the science associated with the safety lamp he had invented a few years earlier, undertook a series of studies that led him to make the observation that a jet of gas, primarily methane, would cause a platinum wire to continue to glow even though the flame was extinguished and there was no visible flame. Dobereiner reported in 1823 the results of a similar investigation and observed that spongy platina would cause the ignition of a stream of hydrogen in air. Based on this observation Dobereiner invented the first lighter. His lighter employed hydrogen (generated from zinc and sulfuric acid) which passed over finely divided platinum and which ignited the gas. Thousands of these lighters were used over a number of years. Dobereiner refused to file a patent for his lighter, commenting that "I love science more than money." Davy thought the action of platinum was the result of heat while Dobereiner believed the ~ffect ~as a manifestation of electricity. Faraday became interested in the subject and published a paper on it in 1834; he concluded that the cause for this reaction was similar to other reactions.

This proceedings volume comprises the invited plenary lectures, contributed and poster papers presented at a symposium organised to mark the successful inauguration of the world's first commercial plant for production of gasoline from natural gas, based on the Mobil methanol-to-gasoline process. The objectives of the Symposium were to present both fundamental research and engineering aspects of the development and commercialization of gas-to-gasoline processes. These include steam reforming, methanol synthesis and methanol-to-gasoline. Possible alternative processes e.g. MOGD, Fischer-Tropsch synthesis of hydrocarbons, and the direct conversion of methane to higher hydrocarbons were also considered.The papers in this volume provide a valuable and extremely wide-ranging overview of current research into the various options for natural gas conversion, giving a detailed description of the gas-to-gasoline process and plant. Together, they represent a unique combination of fundamental surface chemistry catalyst characterization, reaction chemistry and engineering scale-up and commercialization.

This book introduces various types of reactions to produce chemicals by the direct conversion of methane from the point of view of mechanistic and functional aspects. The chemicals produced from methane are aliphatic and aromatic hydrocarbons such as propylene and benzene, and methanol. These chemicals are created by using homogeneous catalysts, heterogeneous catalysts such as zeolites, and biocatalysts such as enzymes. Various examples of methane conversion reactions that are discussed have been chosen to illustrate how heterogeneous and homogenous catalysts and biocatalysts and/or their reaction environments control the formation of highly energetic species from methane contributing to C-C and C-O bond formation.

This volume contains peer-reviewed manuscripts describing the scientific and technological advances presented at the 6th Natural Gas Conversion Sumposium held in Alaska in June 2001. This symposium continues the tradition of excellence and the status as the premier technical meeting in this area established by previous meetings.The 6th Natural Gas Conversion Symposium is conducted under the overall direction of the Organizing Committee. The Program Committee was responsible for the review, selection, editing of most of the manuscripts included in this volum. A standing International Advisory Board has ensured the effective long-term planning and the continuity and technical excellence of these meetings.

On January 1988, the ascertained and economically accessible reserves of Natural Gas (NG) amounted to over 144,000 billion cubic meters worldwide, corresponding to 124 billion tons of oil equivalents (comparable with the liquid oil reserves, which are estimated to be 138 billion TOE). It is hypothesized that the volume of NG reserve will continue to grow at the same rate of the last decade. Forecasts on production indicate a potential increase from about 2,000 billion cubic meters in 1990 to not more than 3,300 billion cubic meters in 2010, even in a high economic development scenario. NG consumption represents only one half of oil: 1.9 billion TOE/y as compared to 3.5 of oil. Consequently, in the future gas will exceed oil as a carbon atom source. In the future the potential for getting energetic vectors or petrochemicals from NG will continue to grow.The topics covered in Natural Gas Conversion V reflect the large global R&D effort to look for new and economic ways of NG exploitation. These range from the direct conversion of methane and light paraffins to the indirect conversion through synthesis gas to fuels and chemicals. Particularly underlined and visible are the technologies already commercially viable.These proceedings prove that mature and technologically feasible processes for natural gas conversion are already available and that new and improved catalytic approaches are currently developing, the validity and feasibility of which will soon be documented. This is an exciting area of modern catalysis, which will certainly open novel and rewarding perspectives for the chemical, energy and petrochemical industries.

Direct Methane to Methanol: Foundations and Prospects of the Process offers a state-of-the-art account of one of the most interesting and potentially commercial technologies for direct conversion of natural gas into valuable chemicals. The book thoroughly explains the complex and unusual chemistry of the process, as well as possible applications for direct methane to methanol (DMTM). It covers topics involving thermokinetics, pressure, direct oxidation of heavier alkanes, and more, and provides detailed appendices with experimental data and product yields. This book provides all those who work in the field of gas processing and gas chemistry with the theory and experimental data to develop and apply new processes based on direct oxidation of natural gas. All those who deal with oil and natural gas production and processing will learn about this promising technology for the conversion of gas into more valuable chemicals. - Reviews more than 350 publications on high-pressure, low-temperature oxidation of methane and other gas phase hydrocarbons - Contains rare material available for the first time in English - Explains the reasons of previous failure and outlines the way forward for commercial development of the conversion technology - Presents a deep theoretical knowledge of this complex conversion process

Natural gas, composed mostly of methane, is the cleanest of all the fossil fuels, emitting 25-50% less carbon dioxide than either oil or coal for each unit of energy produced. In recent years, natural gas supplied approximately 20-25% of all energy consumed in the United States. Methane hydrate is a potentially enormous and as yet untapped source of methane. The Department of Energy's Methane Hydrate Research and Development Program has been tasked since 2000 to implement and coordinate a national methane hydrate research effort to stimulate the development of knowledge and technology necessary for commercial production of methane from methane hydrate in a safe and environmentally responsible way. Realizing the Energy Potential of Methane Hydrate for the United States evaluates the program's research projects and management processes since its congressional re-authorization in 2005, and presents recommendations for its future research and development initiatives.

"Covers the chemistry, process chemistry, technology, engineering, and economics of methane conversion, including its environmental impact and commercial exploitation. Begins with methane's availability and increasing importance as an environmentally acceptable natural resource alternative and feedstock."

"Covers the chemistry, process chemistry, technology, engineering, and economics of methane conversion, including its environmental impact and commercial exploitation. Begins with methane's availability and increasing importance as an environmentally acceptable natural resource alternative and feedstock."