Method and apparatus for producing a hydrogen-containing product

An apparatus for producing a hydrogen-containing product, the apparatus comprising:

• a catalyst-containing reactor having an inlet and an outlet, the inlet for receiving a feed, the outlet for discharging an effluent formed from the feed;
• a reformer furnace comprising a combustion section and a heat exchanger section, the combustion section containing a plurality of catalyst-containing reformer tubes, the plurality of catalyst-containing reformer tubes operatively disposed to receive at least a portion of the effluent discharged from the catalyst-containing reactor, the heat exchanger section containing a plurality of heat exchangers, the heat exchanger section operatively disposed to receive a combustion product gas from the combustion section;
• a first heat exchanger of the plurality of heat exchangers operatively configured to heat a reactant gas mixture by indirect heat exchange with the combustion product gas;
• and
• a heat exchanger unit having an inlet and an outlet, the heat exchanger unit operatively configured to receive at least a fraction of the reactant gas mixture directly from the first heat exchanger and provide on demand cooling of the at least a fraction of the reactant gas mixture from the first exchanger and discharge the at least a fraction of the reactant gas mixture as an effluent from the outlet of the heat exchanger unit, wherein the inlet of the catalyst-containing reactor is operatively disposed to receive a portion or all of the effluent from the outlet of the heat exchanger unit as at least a portion of the feed to the catalyst-containing reactor;
• a bypass conduit;
• and
• one or more valves, the one or more valves capable of directing separate fractions of the reactant gas mixture from the first heat exchanger to the heat exchanger unit and the bypass conduit;
• wherein the bypass conduit is operatively disposed to direct any fraction of the reactant gas mixture passing through the bypass conduit to the inlet of the catalyst-containing reactor as at least a second portion of the feed to the catalyst-containing reactor without passing that fraction of the reactant gas mixture through the heat exchanger unit,
• wherein the heat exchanger unit is operatively configured to cool any fraction of reactant gas mixture that passes through the heat exchanger unit by indirect heat exchange with boiler feed water.