# US 8,769,961 B2 · Generating power from natural gas with carbon dioxide capture > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 8,769,961 B2 - Document ID: US8769961B2 - Status: Granted - Kind: B2 - Application number: 12/763,081 - Filed: 2010-04-19 - Published: 2010-10-21 - Granted: 2014-07-08 - Earliest claimed: 2009-04-17 - Assignees: GTLpetrol LLC - Applicants: Rodney J. Allam - Inventors: Rodney J. Allam - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US8769961B2 ## CPC - C01B 3/34: by reaction of hydrocarbons with gasifying agents - B01J 19/24: Stationary reactors without moving elements inside (B01J19/08, B01J19/26 take precedence; with stationary particles B01J8/02) - C01B 3/36: using oxygen; using mixtures containing oxygen as gasifying agents - C01B 3/382: Processes with two or more reaction steps, of which at least one is catalytic, e.g. steam reforming and partial oxidation - C01B 3/384: with external heating of the catalyst - C01B 3/48: followed by reaction of water vapour with carbon monoxide - C01B 3/50: Separation of hydrogen or hydrogen-containing gases from gaseous mixtures, e.g. purification - C01B 3/56: by contacting with solids; Regeneration of used solids - F02C 6/18: using the waste heat of gas-turbine plants outside the plants themselves, e.g. gas-turbine power heat plants (using waste heat as source of energy for refrigeration plants F25B27/02; using the waste heat of a gasturbine for steam generation or in a steam cycle see F01K23/10) - C01B 2203/0233: the reforming step being a steam reforming step - C01B 2203/025: containing a partial oxidation step - C01B 2203/0283: containing a CO-shift step, i.e. a water gas shift step - C01B 2203/0288: containing two CO-shift steps - C01B 2203/042: Purification by adsorption on solids - C01B 2203/0475: the impurity being carbon dioxide - C01B 2203/0844: the non-combustive exothermic reaction being another reforming reaction as defined in groups C01B2203/02 - C01B2203/0294 - C01B 2203/0872: Methods of cooling - C01B 2203/1235: Hydrocarbons - C01B 2203/1241: Natural gas or methane - C01B 2203/1294: Evaporation by heat exchange with hot process stream - C01B 2203/141: At least two reforming, decomposition or partial oxidation steps in parallel - C01B 2203/82: Several process steps of C01B2203/02 - C01B2203/08 integrated into a single apparatus - C01B 2203/84: Energy production - C01B 2203/86: Carbon dioxide sequestration - Y02E 20/14: Combined heat and power generation [CHP] - Y02E 20/16: Combined cycle power plant [CCPP], or combined cycle gas turbine [CCGT] - Y02P 20/129: Energy recovery, e.g. by cogeneration, H2recovery or pressure recovery turbines - Y02P 30/00: Technologies relating to oil refining and petrochemical industry - C01B: NON-METALLIC ELEMENTS; COMPOUNDS THEREOF; {METALLOIDS OR COMPOUNDS THEREOF NOT COVERED BY SUBCLASS C01C} - B01J: CHEMICAL OR PHYSICAL PROCESSES, e.g. CATALYSIS OR COLLOID CHEMISTRY; THEIR RELEVANT APPARATUS - F02C: GAS-TURBINE PLANTS; AIR INTAKES FOR JET-PROPULSION PLANTS; CONTROLLING FUEL SUPPLY IN AIR-BREATHING JET-PROPULSION PLANTS (construction of turbines F01D; jet-propulsion plants F02K; construction of compressors or fans F04; generating combustion products of high pressure or high velocity F23R; using gas turbines in compression refrigeration plants F25B11/00) - Y02E: REDUCTION OF GREENHOUSE GAS [GHG] EMISSIONS, RELATED TO ENERGY GENERATION, TRANSMISSION OR DISTRIBUTION - Y02P: CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION TECHNOLOGIES IN THE PRODUCTION OR PROCESSING OF GOODS ## Abstract Methods include producing a hydrogen rich fuel gas for a gas turbine ballasted with nitrogen and steam and superheated to a temperature above its dew point. The fuel gas may have a minimal or reduced content of CO2 or fuel components CO and CH4 which contain carbon so that when combusted in a suitable gas turbine there may be minimal or reduced emissions of CO2 to the atmosphere. These methods may result in a capture of the bulk of the carbon present in the total natural gas feed as CO2 compressed to pipeline delivery pressure for sequestration. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method for producing fuel gas mixture comprising; exothermically reacting a first portion of a hydrocarbon feed stream with steam, an oxidant gas comprising molecular oxygen to produce an exothermically generated syn-gas product, or a combination of the steam and the oxidant gas; endothermically reforming a second portion of the hydrocarbon feed stream with steam over a catalyst in a heat exchange reformer to produce an endothermically-reformed syn-gas product, wherein at least a portion of heat used in generation of the endothermically-reformed syn-gas product is obtained by recovering heat from the exothermically-generated syn-gas product and the endothermically reformed syn-gas product; cooling a combination of the endothermically-reformed syn-gas product and the exothermically-generated syn-gas product to generate a cooled syn-gas stream; reducing a pressure of the cooled syn-gas stream in a power producing expansion turbine to the to generate a lower-pressure stream having a pressure for a power producing gas turbine; catalytically reacting the lower-pressure syngas in one or more catalytic carbon monoxide shift reactors to generate a combined stream including additional hydrogen (H2) and carbon dioxide (CO2); cooling the combined stream to near ambient temperature in a multipassage multi stream plate-fin heat exchanger which heats water for steam production for the syn-gas generation system and preheats fuel gas product and evaporates water for mixing with the fuel gas product; removing CO2 from the combined stream to generate a CO2-depleted syn-gas having a CO2 concentration below a specified threshold; generating oxygen and nitrogen in an air separation unit which is supplied with air produced from air compressors driven by a first gas turbine; mixing at least part of the nitrogen from the air separation unit with the CO2 depleted syn-gas plus evaporated water to provide a fuel gas for a second power producing gas turbine; and utilizing at least part of the heat in the first gas turbine exhaust, preheating fuel plus oxygen plus steam feeds to the syn-gas generation system. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the exothermically-generated syn-gas product is generated using a partial oxidation burner followed by a catalytic reforming section in a convectively heated steam plus hydrocarbon reformer. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the feed stream includes methane. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the CO2 removed from the combined syn-gas stream includes at least 80% of a total carbon present in the total hydrocarbon feed to the syn-gas generation system and the first gas turbine. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the CO2 is removed using at least one of a conventional physical scrubbing process or a conventional chemical scrubbing process. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 wherein the CO2-depleted syn-gas is generated using a combined CO shift conversion and CO2 adsorption cyclic reactor system operating at above 250° C. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 wherein the ratio of steam to carbon atoms combined with H2 in the hydrocarbon feed is greater than 5. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 wherein the pressure of the combined syn-gas stream leaving the steam boiler is greater than 60 bar. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 wherein the syn-gas expander exit pressure is below 45 bar. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1, wherein the power generated from the first gas turbine provides all of the power required for the total CO2 depleted fuel gas mixed stream delivered to the second gas turbine for power production. ### Claim 11 A method for producing power, comprising; exothermically reacting a first portion of a hydrocarbon feed stream with steam, an oxidant gas comprising molecular oxygen to produce an exothermically generated syn-gas product, or a combination of the steam and the oxidant gas; endothermically reforming a second portion of the hydrocarbon feed stream with steam over a catalyst in a heat exchange reformer to produce an endothermically-reformed syn-gas product, wherein at least a portion of heat used in generation of the endothermically-reformed syn-gas product is obtained by recovering heat from the exothermically-generated syn-gas product; reducing a pressure of a combination of the endothermically-reformed syn-gas product and the exothermically-generated syn-gas product in a power producing expansion turbine to generate a lower-pressure stream having a pressure for a power producing as turbine; reacting the lower pressure stream to generate a combined stream including additional H2 and CO2; removing CO2 from the combined stream to generate a fuel stream having a CO2 concentration below a specified threshold; sequestering the removed CO2; combusting a first part of the fuel stream to generate power for an air separation unit; combusting a second part of the fuel stream to generate additional power for downstream consumption; and heating, using the combusted first part and the combusted second part of the fuel stream, the hydrocarbon feed stream and water feeds to provide pre-heat feeds to a syn-gas generation system. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, wherein the exothermically-generated syn-gas product is generated using a partial oxidation burner followed by a catalytic reforming section in an autothermal reformer. ### Claim 13 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, wherein the feed stream includes methane. ### Claim 14 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, wherein the CO2 removed from the combine stream includes at least 80% of a total feed carbon. ### Claim 15 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, wherein the CO2 is removed using at least one of a conventional physical scrubbing process or a conventional chemical scrubbing process. ### Claim 16 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, further comprising: mixing an inert gas and steam with the fuel stream; and passing the mixed fuel stream to a gas generator associated with generating the power. ### Claim 17 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, further comprising cooling the combination of the combination of the endothermically-reformed syn-gas product and the exothermically-generated syn-gas product prior to the catalytic reaction. ### Claim 18 (depends on 17) The method of claim 17, wherein the generated power powers a gas-to-liquid plant independent of an external power supply or fuel source. ### Claim 19 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, wherein the endothermically-reformed syn-gas product and the exothermically-generated syn-gas product are 70 to 100 bars. ### Claim 20 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, wherein the first part and the second part of the fuel stream is 20 to 45 bars. ### Claim 21 A system for producing hydrogen, comprising; a partial oxidation reactor (POX) or an autothermal reforming reactor (ATR) that exothermically reacts a first portion of a hydrocarbon feed stream with steam, an oxidant gas comprising molecular oxygen to produce an exothermically generated syn-gas product, or a combination of the steam and the oxidant gas; a gas-heated catalytic reformer (GHR) that endothermically reforms a second portion of the hydrocarbon feed stream with steam over a catalyst in a heat exchange reformer to produce an endothermically-reformed syn-gas product, wherein at least a portion of heat used in generation of the endothermically-reformed syn-gas product is obtained by recovering heat from the exothermically-generated syn-gas product; a waste heat boiler that cooling a combination of the endothermically-reformed syn-gas product and the exothermically-generated syn-gas product to generate a cooled syn-gas stream a power producing expansion turbine that reduces a pressure of the cooled syn-gas stream to generate a lower-pressure stream having a pressure for a power producing as turbine; one or more shift conversion reactors that reacts the lower-pressure syngas to generate a combined stream including additional H2 and CO2; a scrubber that removes CO2 from the combined stream to generate a fuel stream having a CO2 concentration below a specified threshold; a storage volume that sequesters the removed CO2; a first gas turbine that combusts a first part of the fuel stream to generate power for an air separation unit; a second gas turbine that combusts a second part of the fuel stream to generate additional power for downstream consumption; and a multi-channel heat exchanger that heats, using the combusted first part and the combusted second part of the fuel stream, the hydrocarbon feed stream and water feeds to provide pre-heat feeds to a syn-gas generation system. ### Claim 22 (depends on 21) The system of claim 21, wherein the CO2 removed from the combine stream includes at least 80% of a total feed carbon. ### Claim 23 (depends on 21) The system of claim 21, further comprising a heat exchanger that cools the combination of the combination of the endothermically-reformed syn-gas product and the exothermically-generated syn-gas product prior to the catalytic reaction. ### Claim 24 (depends on 21) The system of claim 21, wherein generated power powers a gas-to-liquid plant independent of an external power supply or fuel source. ### Claim 25 (depends on 21) The system of claim 21, wherein the endothermically-reformed syn-gas product and the exothermically-generated syn-gas product are 70 to 100 bars. ### Claim 26 (depends on 21) The system of claim 21, where the first part and the second part of the fuel stream is 20 to 45 bars.