Patent ID: 6946114

Claim:
A highly productive process for partially oxidizing a reactant gas mixture comprising methane and O 2 to form synthesis gas comprising carbon monoxide and hydrogen, the process comprising: forming a reactant gas mixture comprising a light hydrocarbon containing gas and an O 2 containing gas, wherein the light hydrocarbon containing gas comprises methane; in a reactor, passing said reactant gas mixture over a catalyst at a reactant gas pressure of at least 200 kPa, said catalyst comprising about 0.5-25 wt % rhodium (wt % rhodium metal based on total weight of the catalyst) and a lanthanide deposited on a refractory support; maintaining a molar ratio of methane to O 2 in the range of about 1.5:1 to about 3.3:1, maintaining the gas hourly space velocity in excess of about 20,000 hr −1 , such that the partial oxidation of the methane proceeds with at least 85% methane conversion, 85% selectivity to carbon monoxide and 85% selectivity to hydrogen.