Patent ID: 11898258
Assignee: B.G. NEGEV TECHNOLOGIES AND APPLICATIONS LTD., AT BEN-GURION UNIVERSITY
Field: Electrical machinery, apparatus, energy (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC C  H  Y | IPC C  H

Claim 14:
15. A process for producing methanol (CH3OH) from methane (CH4), comprising
i) providing an electrochemical cell having an anode in contact with aqueous KOH and an inert cathode;
ii) electrochemically creating a Ni(OH)2/NiOOH layer on said anode, preferably on a nickel foam;
iii) delivering and dispersing pressurized CH4 from a pressurized source to the interface between said anode and said aqueous KOH;
iv) applying direct voltage on said electrodes resulting in direct current in said cell, resulting in oxidation of said CH4 to CH3OH; and
v) employing means for reducing thermodynamic activity of CH3OH near a surface of said electrode, said means preventing oxidation of said CH3OH;
wherein said methanol is collected or further used in a fuel cell as an energy source; and
(vi) electrochemically creating a manganese, or iron or ruthenium, porphyrin layer after said step of electrochemically creating the layer of Ni(OH)2/NiOOH, forming a catalytic bilayer efficiently oxidizing CH4 to CH3OH in said step iv) thereby also creating means for reducing thermodynamic activity of CH3OH near the surface of said electrode and precluding the oxidation of methanol.