Method and reactor for reformation of natural gas and simultaneous production of hydrogen

Abstract

A method of reforming a feed gas comprising natural gas and/or a prereformed natural gas, water vapour and an oxygen-containing gas in an autothermal reactor, characterised in that by the feed gas is first passed through a catalyst free zone in the reactor, in which zone the feed gas is partially combusted in an exothermic oxidation reaction and partially reformed, that the hot, partially combusted and reformed gas is led further through a catalyst bed for further reforming, so as to form a reformed gas stream, and that the reformed gas stream is separated into a first stream primarily containing H2 and a second, low hydrogen stream primarily containing CO2, water vapour and CO, any inert gases and some unconverted feed gas, by means of a membrane in the catalyst bed, which membrane is permeable to hydrogen. A reactor for implementing the method is also described.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.