Operation of a steam methane reformer by direct feeding of steam rich producer gas from steam hydro-gasification

Abstract

An improved, economical alternative method to supply steam and methane to a steam methane reformer (SMR) is accomplished by a combination of procedures, wherein product gas from a steam hydro-gasification reactor (SHR) is used as the feedstock for the SMR by removing impurities from the product stream from the SHR with a gas cleanup unit that operates substantially at process temperatures and pressures and is located between the SHR and SMR.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION[0001]The field of the invention is the synthesis of transportation fuel from carbonaceous feed stocks.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]There is a need to identify new sources of chemical energy and methods for its conversion into alternative transportation fuels, driven by many concerns including environmental, health, safety issues, and the inevitable future scarcity of petroleum-based fuel supplies. The number of internal combustion engine fueled vehicles worldwide continues to grow, particularly in the midrange of developing countries. The worldwide vehicle population outside the U.S., which mainly uses diesel fuel, is growing faster than inside the U.S. This situation may change as more fuel-efficient vehicles, using hybrid and / or diesel engine technologies, are introduced to reduce both fuel consumption and overall emissions. Since the resources for the production of petroleum-based fuels are being depleted, dependency on petroleum will become a major pro...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0029]Although the present invention and its advantages have been described in detail, it should be understood that various changes, substitutions and alterations can be made herein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. Moreover, the scope of the present application is not intended to be limited to the particular embodiments of the process and apparatus described in the specification. As one of ordinary skill in the art will readily appreciate from the disclosure of the present invention, processes and apparatuses, presently existing or later to be developed that perform substantially the same function or achieve substantially the same result as the corresponding embodiments described herein may be utilized according to the present invention. Accordingly, the appended claims are intended to include such processes and use of such apparatuses within their scope.

Problems solved by technology

However, s the SMR feed stream needs to be maintained high temperatures, these conventional clean-up techniques are prohibitive from an energy viewpoint, since the re-heating of the gas stream consumes a significant amount of energy.

Moreover, the benefits supplied by retaining the steam from the SHR product stream are lost.

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