Process and apparatus for the production of hydrogen and carbon dioxide from the gasification of raw materials

A process for the production from liquid, muddy or solid raw materials of pure syngas comprising hydrogen and carbon dioxide with a purity of higher than 99%, the process comprising the following steps:

• (a) providing a vertically oriented monotubular reactor that widens in diameter from top to bottom, the reactor comprising a gasification area comprising a plurality of torch couples that regulate the temperature in the gasification area and provide the gasification area with a thermal profile wherein the temperature at a lower part of the gasification area is higher than the temperature at an upper part of the gasification area, the reactor comprising a feeding channel at the top such that raw materials fed into the reactor through the feeding channel flow through the gasification area to a discharge area at the bottom of the reactor;
• (b) compressing and thickening of the raw materials with the elimination of air from the raw materials and feeding the raw materials into the gasification area of the reactor through the feeding channel, the compressing and thickening generating a differential pressure that prevents air from entering the reactor through the feeding channel and also prevents syngas generated in the reactor from leaving through the feeding channel;
• (c) gasifying the raw materials in the gasification area of the reactor in a reducing atmosphere, the thermal profile in the gasification area, the rate at which the raw materials are fed into the reactor in step (b), and the particle size of the raw materials fed into the reactor in step (b) being controlled such that, in the gasification, there is no accumulation of the raw materials within the reactor and only solid residues which cannot be gasified descend into the discharge area at the bottom of the reactor;
• (d) gathering the solid residues which cannot be gasified in the discharge area;
• and
• (e) recovering syngas generated in the gasifying step (c) and treating the recovered syngas to obtain the pure syngas comprising hydrogen and carbon dioxide with the purity of over 99%.