Evaluative screening of kinetic models for simulating the performances of oxidative coupling of methane catalysts

In this work, multiple kinetic models have been screened as potential candidates for simulating the performances of three oxidative coupling of methane (OCM) catalysts. Two of the proposed models were subjected to testing and optimization. The types of models screened covered both kinetic and microkinetic type models, i.e., radical omitting and radical considering. Some of the models only accounted for catalytic heterogeneous pathways, while others have expanded on the homogeneous gas-phase mechanism of the OCM reaction. The optimization process was carried out in MATLAB® R2020a using an error minimization tool. The range of experimental conditions examined was as follows: 740–800◦C, 100 kPa, 2–4 CH4/O2 ratio, 1–6 gcat h molC –1 spacetime. The results show successful optimization of both models as well as discrepancies in terms of their performances in predicting experimentally obtained values of CH4 and O2 conversions, as well as selectivities towards COx and C2+ products. While a kinetic model served as an easy option to optimize, it expressed limits in terms of achievable performance, mainly failing to simulate experimental runs conducted at low spacetimes. A microkinetic model on the other hand, managed to simulate all experimental conditions, with less accuracy towards COx species and much greater computational demand.