636. ------. [FARBWERKE VORM. MEISTER LUCIUS AND BRÜNING.] Methane. British Patent 161,924. May 12, 1921; appl. filed Aug. 10, 1920. Chem. Abs., vol. 15, 1921, p. 2444.

Patent Abstracts

Process described in the principal patent for manufacturing CH₄ from CO and H₂ is modified by diluting the mixture with gases that are indifferent to the process to regulate the temperature of the reaction, more particularly in the earlier stages. The dilution may be effected by employing a quantity of H₂, as compared with CO in excess of the proportion 1:5: or the gases may be diluted with CH₄, which may be derived from the process itself. In the latter case, the gases may be repeatedly passed through a single contact furnace, the H₂O and a proportion of the highly concentrated CH₄ being withdrawn after each passage, while to the entering gases are added quantities of CO and H₂ equivalent to the CH₄ withdrawn, the relative proportions of CO and H₂ in the reaction gases being maintained at about 1:5: the last traces of H₂ in the CH₄ may be subsequently removed. This is an addition to British Patent 146,110 (abs. 634).