Kinetic and mechanistic aspects of the oxidative dehydrogenation of ethane over Li/MgO catalysts

In previous work the authors derived a model for the reaction path for the methane couplings reaction over Li/MgO catalysts. It was shown that the primary product was ethane; that ethylene was produced from ethane and that the combustion products were largely produced out of the C2 products. Furthermore, the reaction rate for the methane conversion could be described in a Langmuir-Hinshelwood Mechanism. From this model adsorption coefficients for methane, oxygen and carbon monoxide were derived. The results suggested that oxygen and carbon monoxide absorb on the same site. In order to complete this model, the following step, the oxidative dehydrogenation (ODH) of ethane, over Li/MgO catalysts and sodium promoted Li/MgO was studied. This work was intended to estimate the adsorption coefficients for ethane and ethene, and to derive activation energies for the process.