A general name given to heterogeneous catalytic processes used for the direct conversion of natural gas, which comprises mainly methane, to ethane, ethylene, and other longer hydrocarbons that have a higher added value, with ethylene being the world’s largest commodity chemical. For the production of ethylene, the gas phase reaction $2C{H}_4+O_2\to C_2{H}_4+2H_{2}O$ is very exothermic and is therefore carried out at a high temperature. The methane is converted first to ethane and then goes through a process of dehydrogenation to form ethylene.