Hydrogen production by an autothermal heat exchanger packed-bed membrane gas reformer

摘要

A process for producing hydrogen from natural gas, said process comprises the steps of: (i) providing an autothermal heat exchanger packed-bed membrane reformer (APBMR) comprising: (a) an elongated external gas oxidation compartment comprising an inlet, an outlet and packed oxidation catalyst particles, said inlet and outlet being located each at one extremity of said external gas oxidation compartment; (b) an elongated internal gas steam-reforming compartment comprising an inlet, an outlet and packed steam-reforming catalyst particles, said inlet and outlet being located each at one extremity of said internal gas steam-reforming compartment; (c) one or more hydrogen-separating membrane(s) positioned in said steam-reforming compartment substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of said steam-reforming compartment; (d) one insulation layer surrounding said external compartment; and, optionally, (e) one or more elongated internal gas oxidation compartment(s) positioned in said steam-reforming compartment substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of said gas steam-reforming internal compartment, and comprising an inlet, an outlet and packed oxidation catalyst particles, said inlet and outlet being located each at an extremity of said internal gas oxidation compartment(s); (ii) supplying a mixture comprising said natural gas and air to said gas oxidation compartment(s) of said reformer; and (iii) supplying a mixture comprising said natural gas and water to said gas steam-reforming compartment, wherein the water-to-gas molar ratio is of between 2 and 4, and wherein the water may be pre-vaporized before being supplied into said gas steam-reforming compartment; thereby producing hydrogen suitable to be directly fed into a power generating device (PGD) to generate an electrical power, or to be stored into a suitable container before further use.