Patent ID: 7250543

Claim:
A method of oxidative coupling of methane for the formation of heavier hydrocarbons, the method comprising the steps of: producing a perovskite catalyst, the catalyst produced by a process comprising: forming an aqueous slurry comprising an alkaline earth metal salt, a powdered metal salt and a powdered transition metal oxide, wherein the alkaline earth metal is selected from the group consisting of barium, calcium and strontium salts, and wherein the metal oxide is titanium oxide; adding a polymeric binder to the slurry to form a paste; drying the paste for forming a powder; heating the powder at increasing temperatures at a predetermined profile commensurate with the polymeric binder; and calcining the heated powder; and contacting a feed gas stream containing methane and oxygen in an oxidative coupling reactor under oxidative coupling conditions in the presence of the perovskite catalyst.