Process for obtaining hydrogen from natural gas

A process for obtaining hydrogen from natural gas, the process comprising the steps of:

• a. reacting the natural gas with a mixture of air and steam in a single reactor to obtain a gas comprising hydrogen and carbon monoxide,
• b. reacting the carbon monoxide produced in step (a) at a high temperature with steam to obtain a gas comprising hydrogen and carbon dioxide, and
• c. reacting the carbon monoxide which has not reacted in step (b) at a low temperature with steam to obtain a gas comprising hydrogen and carbon dioxide,
• wherein in step (a) the natural gas, the air and the steam are fed simultaneously with an O2/CH4 feed ratio varying between 0.4 and 0.7 and a H2O/CH4 feed ratio varying between 0.8 and 2.5 and react on the same catalyst at a space velocity comprised between 70,000 and 90,000 h−1, and in that the pressure used in steps (a) to (c) varies between 1 and 8 atm.