Natural Gas to Fuels

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Program:
OPEN 2015
Award:
$2,256,677
Location:
Corvallis, Oregon
Status:
ALUMNI
Project Term:
05/16/2016 - 07/31/2019
Website:

Technology Description:

The team led by Oregon State University (OSU) is developing a novel gas-to-liquid (GTL) technology that utilizes a “corona discharge” plasma to convert methane to higher value chemicals, such as ethylene or liquid fuels. A corona discharge is formed when a high voltage is applied across a gap with a shaped electrode that concentrates the electric field at a tip. At sufficiently high voltage, an electrical discharge (characterized by a faint glow - a corona) is formed, and ionizes the surrounding gas molecules, i.e. split them into positive ions and free electrons. The team will build a reactor consisting of an array of micro-structured conducting surfaces to form corona discharges that ionize methane molecules and recombine the ionized components to form longer chain hydrocarbons with higher value. The key advantages of this technology are the innovative reactor design, which will allow small-scale production, as well as the high energy and conversion efficiencies, resulting in less energy being consumed to convert methane to liquid fuels.

Potential Impact:

If successful, the GTL technology developed by OSU could provide an alternative to petroleum-based fuel and reduce greenhouse gas emissions from otherwise underutilized biogas.

Security:

The liquid fuels produced by OSU’s GTL process would open new opportunities to better use domestic biogas.

Environment:

If applied to landfill biogas and other waste-streams of methane, OSU’s GTL process could prevent millions of tons of harmful greenhouse gas emissions annually.

Economy:

By creating a larger domestic infrastructure for ethylene production, the U.S. could maintain its global lead and secure more jobs in for example, the U.S. plastics industry by keeping feedstock costs low.

Contact

ARPA-E Program Director:
Dr. Grigorii Soloveichik
Project Contact:
Nicholas AuYeung
Press and General Inquiries Email:
ARPA-E-Comms@hq.doe.gov
Project Contact Email:
Nick.AuYeung@oregonstate.edu

Partners

Baylor University

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Release Date:
01/07/2015