Steam-methane reforming in hydrogen production
AssigneeSaudi Arabian Oil Company
InventorsEiman Hassan AL MUNIF, Norah A. ALJEABAN
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Abstract
System and methods for producing hydrogen, the system comprising: a reformer unit configured to generate a reformate gas via a steam-methane reaction that is aided by an iron sulfide catalyst; and, a shift reactor operably coupled to the reformer unit, wherein the shift reactor is configured to utilize the reformate gas to perform a water-shift reaction to produce additional hydrogen, and wherein an activation energy of the water-shift reaction is lowered by a presence of the iron sulfide catalyst in the reformate gas. Further systems use a water treatment system coupled to a steam generator, a reformer unit configured to generate a reformate gas via a steam-methane reaction, and a shift reactor.
Claims20
A system for producing hydrogen, the system comprising:
- a reformer unit configured to generate a reformate gas via a steam-methane reaction that is aided by an iron sulfide catalyst;
- and,
- a shift reactor operably coupled to the reformer unit, wherein the shift reactor is configured to utilize the reformate gas to perform a water-shift reaction to produce additional hydrogen, and wherein an activation energy of the water-shift reaction is lowered by a presence of the iron sulfide catalyst in the reformate gas.
The system of claim 3, further comprising:
- a water treatment system operably coupled to the steam generator, wherein the water treatment system is configured to remove contaminants from the water supply prior to supplying the water supply to the steam generator.
A method for producing hydrogen, the method comprising:
- generating, via a reformer unit, a reformate gas by a steam-methane reaction aided by an iron sulfide catalyst;
- generating additional hydrogen, via a shift reactor, by a water-shift reaction applied to the reformate gas;
- and,
- utilizing a presence of the iron sulfide catalyst within the reformate gas to lower the activation energy of the water-gas shift reaction.
A system, comprising:
- a water treatment system coupled to a steam generator, wherein the water treatment system is configured to remove contaminants from a water supply derived from a hydrocarbon well and provide treated water to the steam generator, and wherein the steam generator heats the treated water to provide steam to the reformer unit;
- a reformer unit configured to generate a reformate gas via a steam-methane reaction that is aided by an iron sulfide catalyst;
- and,
- a shift reactor operably coupled to the reformer unit, wherein the shift reactor is configured to utilize the reformate gas to perform a water-shift reaction to produce additional hydrogen, and wherein an activation energy of the water-shift reaction is lowered by a presence of the iron sulfide catalyst in the reformate gas.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.