Molten salts reactor systems for methane pyrolysis
AssigneeShell USA, Inc.
InventorsLeonardo Spanu, Guoqiang Yang, Joseph Broun Powell, Carl Mesters
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Abstract
A reactor system, which is active in pyrolyzing methane at effective conditions, comprising a molten salt medium and a reaction vessel, the molten salt being contained within the reaction vessel using various methods of catalyst distribution within the vessel such that when methane passes through the vessel, it comes into contact with said catalyst causing a pyrolysis reaction thereby producing molecular hydrogen with reduced carbon dioxide emissions. The catalyst may be placed within the reaction vessel either as suspended particles or in a structured packed form.
Claims10
A process for methane pyrolysis in a molten salt medium, comprising:
- exposing methane gas to a molten salt medium and a solid catalyst in a volume of a reaction vessel under effective conditions to convert at least a portion of methane into hydrogen and solid carbon;
- and
- removing at least a portion of the solid carbon;
- wherein the molten salt medium comprises halide salts;
- and
- wherein the solid catalyst is placed in the reaction vessel either as suspended particles in the molten salt medium or in a structured packed form;
- and
- wherein the catalyst particles have a density of about 1500 kg/m3 to about 3800 kg/m3 and an average size of about 0.6 mm to about 6 mm in diameter.
A reactor system for carrying out methane pyrolysis in a molten salt medium, the reactor system comprising one or more hydrocarbon feed lines fed into one or more reactor sections containing a molten salt comprising halide salts and a solid catalyst wherein the solid catalyst is placed in the reactor either as suspended particles in the molten salt or in structured packed form wherein the one or more reactor sections comprise a lower section of the reaction vessel and an upper section of the reaction vessel,
- wherein the catalyst particles have a density of about 1500 kg/m3 to about 3800 kg/m3 and an average size of about 0.6 mm to about 6 mm in diameter.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.