Nitric Oxide-Promoted Partial Oxidation of Methane under Strongly Oxidising Conditions

Addition of catalytic amounts of NO to methane-containing mixtures under oxidising conditions selectively promotes partial oxidation reactions at expense of the total combustion, the effects being more pronounced in the ZrO2 and Al2O3 catalysts compared to those in CeO2-containing ones because of the high-combustion activity of CeO2.