Amirkabir University of Technology
(Tehran Polytechnic)
Chemical Engineering Department
HomeWork 2
By:
AliHamedi
Supervisor:
Dr. Mansooreh Soleimani
2024 Sep
Ali Hamedi Home Work#2
Principles of Economics and Process Design
Syngas production from natural gas:
There are three types of process widely used by industry for conversion of natural gas to syngas: steam
reforming, partial oxidation, and autothermal reforming.
Steam Reforming
Steam reforming of natural gas is one of the most common processes for syngas production. In this catalytic
process, methane reacts with steam at 800–900 ∘C and moderate pressure (around 40 bars) in presence of a
catalyst to produce syngas. The H2/CO ratio produced in the reforming reaction is close to 3.
CH4 + H2O → 3H2 + CO
The steam reforming of methane is an endothermic reaction. The reaction heat is provided by sending the
feed stock consisting of a mixture of desulfurized natural gas and steam (typically up to three steam to
carbon ratio) to a tubular reactor. The reformer tubes are packed with catalyst and heated externally by
burners to achieve high temperatures needed for considerable syngas yields, making steam reforming a
major energy consumer. Several different transition metals can be used as catalyst in the reforming process,
but nickel is the most widely used because it is usually the cheapest and leads to satisfactory results. Because
this process of steam reforming leads to highest H2/CO ratio, it is considered ideal for hydrogen production.
Partial Oxidation
The partial oxidation of methane is a process whereby methane reacts directly with oxygen or air in the
presence of a catalyst, and product of this reaction is syngas with a good H2/CO ratio. The partial oxidation
reaction is shown below.
CH4 + 1/2 O2 → CO + 2H2
FIG 1- UOP BENFIELD PROCESS FOR ACID GAS
Ali Hamedi Home Work#2
In a noncatalytic partial oxidation, the production of syngas is carried out at temperatures of 1500–1200 ∘C
without a catalyst. A noncatalytic partial oxidation process was developed by Texaco and Shell, which
results in high syngas yields at high temperature and pressures. The problems related to the homogeneous
process are high temperatures, long residence time as well as excessive coke formation, which reduce the
controllability of the reaction. The use of a catalyst in the production of syngas lowers the reaction
temperature to around 800–900 ∘C. Methane is converted with oxygen (or air) over a noble metal (Pt, Rh,
Ir, Pd) or a non-noble metal (Ni, Co) catalyst to syngas in a single-step process. The catalytic partial
oxidation can be used only if the sulfur content of natural gas is below 60 ppm. Higher sulfur content would
poison the catalyst and therefore noncatalytic partial oxidation should be used for such fuels. Many studies
have been conducted for the catalytic partial oxidation on reaction mechanism, reactor configuration,
reactor simulations, and catalyst systems.
Syngas production from solid waste:
Municipal solid waste (MSW) contains a large number of hydrocarbons and abundant energy. The
municipal solid waste can be converted into available oil, gas, carbon and other energy sources via
appropriate utilization of the waste, which can realize resource utilization of MSW and has great
development potential and market prospects. With the progress and optimization of technologies, MSW
treatment technologies for reducing amount have gradually changed to the processing technologies for
resource utilization. Among them, the MSW gasification technology has attracted much attention, and is
considered as a highly potential MSW recycling technology. However, due to the complicated composition
of MSW, the ratio of H2/CO in crude synthesis gas generated via MSW gasification is not reasonable. The
syngas product is often accompanied by tar and other by-products, and the add-value of direct utilization
of crude syngas is lower. In addition, in the process of MSW gasification, the N and S elements in MSW
are mostly transformed into SO2 and NOx, and heavy metals such as Cr, Pb, Zn, Cu and Hg are volatilized
in different degrees existing in the synthesis gas, which directly impede the safe use of synthesis gas.
Therefore, it is necessary to reform the crude synthesis gas produced by gasification to obtain clean and
reasonable syngas. Steam reforming of synthesis gas using catalysts during gasification, namely catalytic
gasification and reforming, is the most developed process for generation of H2 from methane and adjusting
ratio of H2/CO in syngas. Compared with the noble metal catalysts, nickel based catalysts are most
commonly used for industrial applications due to its comparable high activity toward C-H bond activation,
better availability, and low cost. Nevertheless, the coke formation and impurities in the syngas can lead to
a decrease in the active surface area, lower catalytic activity and thus cause Ni-based catalysts deactivation.
How to avoid catalyst deactivation are the major challenges with steam reforming of crude synthesis gas
using Ni-based catalysts. On the other hand, alkali metals can promote the activity and selectivity of Ni-
based catalysts. Alkaline earth metals can increase the adsorption of CO2 on the catalyst. With the special
oxygen storage capacity, rare earth metal oxides can reduce the probability of coke formation on the catalyst
surface, and play a positive role in the carbon/steam gasification reforming of the catalyst surface. Among
the rare metal oxides, ceria (CeO2) has been intensively studied as an effective promoter in recent years,
because of the unique function of ceria in redox behaviors of Ce4+/Ce3+ and the interaction between metal
and ceria, which can greatly improve the activity and stability of the catalyst
Ali Hamedi Home Work#2
FIG2- PFD SYNGAS PRODUCTION
References
[1] L. Zhang, W. Wu, Y. Zhang, and X. Zhou, “Clean synthesis gas production from
municipal solid waste via catalytic gasification and reforming technology,” 2018. doi:
10.1016/j.cattod.2018.02.050.
[2] “olefins-and-
synthesis-gas-production-technologies-2021.pdf.”
