US 6,884,368 B2Granted

Process for the production of a mixture comprising hydrogen and CO

AssigneeL'Air Liquide - Societe'Anonyme a' Directoire et Conseil de Surveillance pour l'Etude et l'Exploitation des Procedes Georges Claude

InventorsSerguei Zhdanok, Philippe Labrune

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Abstract

The invention relates to a process for production of a mixture comprising hydrogen and CO by partial oxidation of a hydrocarbon by an oxygenated medium, according to which the processing is carried out under autothermal conditions with the heat given off by said oxidation being recovered to maintain the endo-thermic reactions which take place between the non-oxidized fraction of said hydrocarbon and the CO2 and the steam produced by said oxidation, being characterized in that the reaction gas mixture comprising the hydrocarbon and the oxygenated medium is passed through a porous medium (4) which has been preheated beforehand, thus making it possible to heat the reaction gas mixture by heat exchange with the porous medium to a temperature threshold sufficient to initiate combustion reactions, rendering unnecessary an external heat supply when operating continuously.

Claims17

Dependent claims

Process for the production of a mixture comprising hydrogen and CO, comprising partially oxidizing a hydrocarbon by an oxygenated medium or a medium capable of releasing oxygen, wherein the process is carried out under autothermal conditions, the heat given off by said oxidation being recovered to maintain the endothermic reactions which take place between a nonoxidized fraction of said hydrocarbon and CO2 and steam produced by said oxidation, wherein

a reaction gas mixture comprising the hydrocarbon and the oxygenated medium or medium capable of releasing oxygen, is introduced into a porous medium which has been preheated beforehand, and wherein
the introduction of the reaction gas mixture into the porous medium results in heating the reaction gas mixture by heat exchange with the porous medium to a temperature sufficient to initiate a combustion reaction,
wherein said preheated porous medium is formed by a first inert porous material and wherein the reaction gas mixture or a product thereof successively encounters said first inert porous material, a catalytic bed and then a second inert porous material within a vertical cylindrical reactor, the ends of which are filled with one or other of said inert porous materials and the central part of which is filled with said catalytic bed, and
alternately feeding the reactor with the reaction gas mixture by the following introduction modes (i) and (ii):
(i) the reaction gas mixture is introduced to a lower part of the reactor and the mixture comprising, the hydrogen and the CO is collected at an upper part of the reactor, or
(ii) the reaction gas mixture is introduced to the upper part of the reactor and the mixture comprising the hydrogen and the CO is collected at the lower part of the reactor,
wherein the introduction modes (i) and (ii) alternate as a function of the advance of a combustion front inside the reactor.

4 more elements

a flow of a reaction gas mixture comprising the hydrocarbon and the oxygenated medium or medium capable of releasing oxygen, is introduced into a reactor containing a porous medium which has been preheated beforehand, and wherein
the introduction of the reaction gas mixture into the porous medium results in heating the reaction gas mixture by heat exchange with the porous medium to a temperature sufficient to initiate a combustion reaction, and wherein
the entire flow of the reaction gas mixture is introduced into the porous medium, and wherein
said preheated porous medium is formed by a first inert porous material and wherein the reaction gas mixture or a product thereof successively encounters said first inert porous material, a catalytic bed and then a second inert porous material within a vertical cylindrical reactor, the ends of which are filled with one or other of said inert porous materials and the central part of which is filled with said catalytic bed, the process further comprising alternately feeding the reactor containing the porous medium with the reaction gas mixture by the following introduction modes (i) and (ii):
(i) the reaction gas mixture is introduced to a lower part of the reactor and the mixture comprising the hydrogen and the CO is collected at an upper part of the reactor, or
(ii) the reaction gas mixture is introduced to the upper part of the reactor and the mixture comprising the hydrogen and the CO is collected at the lower art of the reactor,
wherein the introduction modes (i) and (ii) alternate as a function of the advance of a combustion front inside the reactor.

4 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 09/833,639Filed 13 Apr 2001
Priority: FR 00 0476613 Apr 2000
Published: US 2001/0033819 A125 Oct 2001
Granted: 26 Apr 2005
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification13 codes

C01B 3/382
Using catalysts: processes with two or more reaction steps, of which at least one is catalytic, e.g. steam reforming and partial oxidation
B01J 8/025
The fluid flow within the bed being predominantly vertical: in a cylindrical shaped bed
B01J 8/0285
With stationary particles, e.g. in fixed beds: heating or cooling the reactor
B01J 2208/00061
Temperature measurement: of the reactants