b'Natural Gas to ChemicalDirectly converting natural gas to aromatics and hydrogen can reduce Intermediate by Singlethe environmental impact of the petrochemical industry. Step Synthesis UsingA romatics like benzene, toluene, and xylenes are the essential building blocks for some of the most used petrochemical products. The vast Tubular Ceramic Catalyticmajority (97%) of todays aromatics production relies on crude oil. The Membrane Reactor supply of aromatics mainly hinges on three different sources: steam cracking of naphtha, catalytic reforming, and coke-oven light oil. All three processes require the production of significant amounts of synthesis gas, in turn creating significant amounts of carbon dioxide and leading to high capital and production costs. Methane, the main component of natural gas, has the highest hydrogen to carbon ratio of all hydrocarbons. Therefore, it is more environmentally friendly in terms of carbon dioxide emissions than oil or coal-derived fuels. Furthermore, North America PROJECT NUMBER:and methane hydrate in the sediments of the ocean floors are conservatively 21A1050-119 estimated to represent twice the amount of carbon in all other known fossil fuel TOTAL APPROVED AMOUNT:reserves. An efficient methane dehydroaromatization catalyst should i) effectively $800,000 over 2 years activate stable carbon-hydrogen bonds in methane molecules, ii) allow selective production of light aromatics, minimizing the formation of unwanted graphitic PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR:carbon (coke), and iii) remain stable at high reaction temperatures.Hanping DingTwo directions were chosen to achieve the objectives. First, a new ternary catalyst CO-INVESTIGATORS: was designed in a fixed-bed reactormolybdenum-based catalyst using Dong Ding, INL bimetallic platinum-bismuth as a promoterthat shows a 28% increased Hongqiang Hu, INL methane conversion and higher selectivity to benzene compared to conventional Haiyan Zhao, University of Idaho molybdenum-based catalyst. In addition, the catalyst was integrated with a COLLABORATORS: proton conducting membrane reactor to cogenerate aromatics and electricity, George Mason University which showed remarkable performance. It presented a 20% single-pass methane University of Maineconversion and 35% benzene yield in the membrane reactor, as well as a high Kansas State Universityoutput power density of 275 mWcm- in methane at 700C.70'