Gas: heating and illuminating – Apparatus for converting or treating hydrocarbon gas
Patent
1987-11-24
1990-05-15
Kratz, Peter
Gas: heating and illuminating
Apparatus for converting or treating hydrocarbon gas
252373, 422190, 422203, B01J 1200, C01B 334, C01B 338
Patent
active
049254561
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to a process and apparatus for the production of synthesis gas.
Synthesis gas is the name generally given to a gaseous mixture principally comprising carbon monoxide and hydrogen, but also possibly containing carbon dioxide and minor amounts of methane and nitrogen. It is used, or is potentially useful, as feedstock in a variety of large-scale chemical processes, for example the production of methanol, the production of gasoline boiling range hydrocarbons by the Fischer-Tropsch process and the production of ammonia.
Processes for the production of synthesis gas are well known and generally comprise steam reforming, autothermal reforming, non-catalytic partial oxidation of light hydrocarbons or non-catalytic partial oxidation of any hydrocarbons. Of these methods, steam reforming is generally used to produce synthesis gas for conversion into ammonia or methanol.
Modifications of the simple steam reforming processes have been proposed. In particular, there have been suggestions for improving the energy efficiency of such processes in which the heat available from a secondary reforming step is utilised for other purposes within the synthesis gas production process. For example, processes are described in GB-A-1550754, US-A-4479925 and GB-A-2153382 in which heat from a seconary reformer is used to provide heat to a primary reformer.
GB-A-1,550,754 describes a process for the steam reforming of hydrocarbons by the sequence of primary and secondary reforming, which comprises the steps of
(a) heating a first mixture of hydrocarbons in the presence of a steam reforming catalyst to form a first partially reformed effluent,
(b) heating a second mixture of hydrocarbon feed and steam to conditions at which primary reforming occurs by indirect heat exchange with the process gas as hereinafter defined and reforming said hydrocarbons in the presence of a steam reforming catalyst to form a second partially reformed effluent,
(c) introducing said first and second partially reformed effluents to a secondary reformer to carry out said secondary reforming in the presence of oxygen and forming a secondary reforming effluent, and passing said secondary reforming effluent as the process gas in indirect heat exchange with said second mixture of hydrocarbon feed as set forth in (b) above.
The primary reformer which is heated by the effluent from the secondary reformer is a shell and tube heat exchanger-reactor.
US-A-4479925 discloses a process for producing ammonia synthesis gas in a reactor-exchanger primary reformer followed by an autothermal secondary reformer in which the primary reformer is heated by synthesis gas from the secondary reformer. The primary and secondary reformers are separate units, the primary unit being a shell and tube heat exchanger-reactor.
GB-A-2153392 discloses an autothermal process for producing a synthesis gas in which a mixture of steam and hydrocarbon feed gas is reacted by passing the mixture through a catalyst in counter-current flow to the combustion reaction effluent of the process, to cool the reaction effluent and to provide heat for the reaction of the steam-hydrocarbon feed gas mixture and introducing oxygen or oxygen-enriched air to form said combustion reaction effluent. The patent application also discloses a reactor for carrying out the process which esentially comprises a shell and tube heat exchanger-reactor as the primary reformer.
The present invention provides a process and apparatus for the production of synthesis gas by the sequence of primary and secondary reforming in which the available heat of the effluent from the secondary reforming is efficiently used to provide heat for the primary reforming. The apparatus has the advantage that it is mechanically reltively simple. The apparatus is of a modular design which allows the heat requirement to be easily changed and which also provides operational and maintenance advantages.
Thus, according to the present invention a process for producing synthesis gas by the sequence of primary and secondary reformi
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Kratz Peter
The Bristish Petroleum COmpany p.1.c.
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