Abstract
Methanol was synthesized by homogeneous and catalytic reactions of partial oxidation of methane. The effect of pressure, temperature and oxygen concentration on methanol synthesis was investigated. The catalyst used was Bi-Cs-Mg-Cu-Mo mixed oxide. The partial oxidation reaction was carried out in a fixed bed reactor at 20${\sim}$46 bar and $450{\sim}480^{\circ}C$ and oxygen concentration of 5.3${\sim}$7.7mol%. The results were compared with results of homogeneous reaction performed at the same conditions. Methane conversions of the homogeneous and catalytic reactions increased with temperature. Methanol selectivity of the homogeneous reaction decreased with increasing temperature. However, the methanol selectivity of catalytic reaction increased with temperature. For both homogeneous and catalytic reactions, the methane conversions were around 5%. This may be due to the low oxygen concentration. Methanol selectivity of the catalytic reaction was higher than that of homogeneous one.