How is methane created?

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Methane is a flammable and odorless gas and the simplest hydrocarbon compound. But how does this connection come about naturally and how can it be created artificially?

The chemical compound CH4, also called methane, is the simplest hydrocarbon compound and an alkane. This substance is a flammable, colorless and odorless gas and is often used as an energy source or for chemical syntheses. Methane occurs in large quantities in the environment, but it can also be produced synthetically.

This is how CH is created4 naturally

  • Methane is produced naturally by bacteria. It is not possible for one type of bacteria to convert carbon compounds directly into methane; instead, several steps with different bacterial strains are necessary.
  • Long carbon chains like carbohydrates, fats and proteins are made in the first step by the enzymes certain bacteria are split in a hydrolysis, i.e. with the help of water, so that monomers develop.
  • In the next step, bacteria convert these monomers into acids and alcohols. This reaction also produces hydrogen, hydrogen sulfide, carbon dioxide and ammonia.
  • In the following, the alcohols and acids are all converted into formic acid, which in the next step are converted into methane by special bacteria with hydrogen and carbon dioxide. This process is called methanogenesis.
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  • These special bacteria that can carry out methanogenesis belong to the class of archaea and are also called methane producers.
  • Many animals, such as cows, are known to also emit methane. It is not the cows themselves that produce methane; this gas is created by the bacteria in the animals' intestines.

The chemical synthesis of methane

  • On a laboratory scale, methane is not produced with the help of bacteria, but usually with hydrogen and carbon dioxide or carbon monoxide.
  • Alternatively, sodium acetate can also be heated together with sodium hydroxide. This reaction produces methane and sodium carbonate.
  • Further chemical reactions for methane synthesis are quite conceivable. For example, hydrochloric acid, along with aluminum carbide, also provides methane. The type of synthesis should simply be adapted to the location and the available starting materials.
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