Apparatus and process for steam reforming

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2025026636-A1
Application number	US-202318498480-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Oct 31, 2023
Priority date	Jul 19, 2023
Publication date	Jan 23, 2025
Grant date	—

Abstract

An apparatus and process for steam reforming can be configured to produce at least one product with reduced carbon dioxide and/or nitrogen oxide emissions. Some embodiments can be better adapted for retrofitting a pre-existing steam reforming process while other embodiments can be better adapted for use in a newly constructed facility. Embodiments can be configured to utilize a synthetic air oxidant to provide combustion that results in formation of a flue gas having relatively high carbon dioxide concentrations that may also have low nitrogen and low nitrogen oxide concentrations. A control system can be configured for utilization in such embodiments to control the steam reforming process and/or oxidant formation process as well. Some embodiments can also be configured to provide carbon dioxide recovery that can permit recovery of a second product stream comprised of carbon dioxide.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . An apparatus for steam reforming comprising:
a combustion device configured to combust a fuel with an oxidant in a combustion chamber of the combustion device to form flue gas and heat at least one reactant stream passed through the combustion device to form at least one reformate stream for production of hydrogen; a mixing device positioned to receive a mixing device portion of the flue gas from the combustion device to mix with oxygen from at least one source of oxygen to form the oxidant such that the oxidant comprises between 20 mole percent (mol %) oxygen (O2) and 40 mol % O2, between 20 mol % carbon dioxide (CO2) and 80 mol % CO2, between 0 mol % nitrogen (N2) and 25 mol % N2, and between 0 mol % water and 40 mol % water; and a carbon capture system positioned to receive a carbon capture portion of the flue gas from the combustion device to recover CO2 and form at least one CO2 product stream.

2 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein there is at least one particulate removal device positioned to remove particulates from the carbon capture portion of the flue gas upstream of a feed compression system of the carbon capture system.

3 . The apparatus of claim 2 , wherein the carbon capture system is configured to output an oxidant forming feed stream to feed to the mixing device to mix with the mixing device portion of the flue gas and the oxygen to form the oxidant.

4 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the carbon capture portion of the flue gas is a first portion of the flue gas and the mixing device portion of the flue gas comprises a second portion of the flue gas, the mixing device portion of the flue gas being between 30% and 90% of the flue gas and the first portion of the flue gas is a remainder of the flue gas.

5 . The apparatus of claim 4 , wherein the mixing device and the carbon capture system are positioned such that the second portion of the flue gas is split from the first portion of the flue gas upstream of a cooler unit positioned between a location at which the second portion of the flue gas is split from the first portion of the flue gas and the cooler unit; and
wherein the carbon capture system comprises a feed compression system positioned to receive the first portion of the flue gas as the carbon capture portion of the flue gas from the cooler unit; the mixing device is positioned so that a third portion of the flue gas is splittable from the first portion of the flue gas upstream of the feed compression system and downstream of the cooler unit for feeding the third portion of the flue gas to the mixing device.

6 . The apparatus of claim 5 , wherein the mixing device is positioned such that the second portion of the flue gas is mixed with the third portion of the flue gas to form the mixing device portion of the flue gas for feeding to the mixing device to form the oxidant.

7 . The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein an amount of flue gas within the third portion of the flue gas is adjustable to form the mixing device portion of the flue gas to adjust a temperature of the mixing device portion of the flue gas.

8 . The apparatus of claim 1 comprising:
a hydrogen production system positioned to receive the at least one reformate stream to form at least one hydrogen-rich product stream;
the hydrogen production system having a carbon capture unit positioned upstream of a hydrogen recovery unit, the hydrogen recovery unit configured to form the at least one hydrogen-rich product stream;
the carbon capture unit of the hydrogen production system configured to recover CO2 from the at least one reformate stream received by the hydrogen production system and output at least one CO2 recovery stream.

9 . The apparatus of claim 8 , wherein the carbon capture unit of the hydrogen production system is positioned and configured to output the at least one CO2 recovery stream so that one or more of:
a portion of the at least one CO2 recovery stream is feedable to the mixing device to form the oxidant, a portion of the at least one CO2 recovery stream is feedable to a compression system to form a CO2 product stream, and/or a portion of the at least one CO2 recovery stream is feedable to a tail gas stream outputtable from the hydrogen recovery unit for being mixed therewith and fed to the combustion chamber of the combustion device.

10 . The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the at least one CO2 product stream comprises a first CO2 product stream and the carbon capture system comprises a partial condensation unit positioned to receive compressed flue gas from a compression system of the carbon capture system and output a first CO2-rich stream and a second CO2-rich stream, the first CO2-rich stream being outputtable at a pressure that is higher than a pressure of the second CO2-rich stream;
the second CO2-rich stream being feedable to a first stage of a CO2 product stream compression system for forming the first CO2 product stream and the first CO2-rich stream being feedable to a second stage of the CO2 product stream compression system for forming the first CO2 product stream, the first CO2 product stream having a CO2 content of between 90 mole percent (mol %) CO2 and 100 mol % CO2.

11 . A process of steam reforming, the process comprising:
forming an oxidant, the oxidant having between 20 mole percent (mol %) oxygen (O2) and 40 mol % O2, between 20 mol % carbon dioxide (CO2) and 80 mol % CO2, between 0 mol % nitrogen (N2) and 25 mol % N2, and between 0 mol % water and 40 mol % water; combusting a fuel with the oxidant in a combustion device of a steam reformer apparatus to create a flue gas and heat at least one reactant stream to output at least one reformate stream; sending a mixing device portion of the flue gas to a mixing device to mix the mixing device portion of flue gas with oxygen from at least one source of oxygen to form the oxidant.

12 . The process of claim 11 , comprising:
removing particulates from a carbon capture portion of the flue gas upstream of a feed compression system of a carbon capture system; and sending the carbon capture portion of the flue gas to the carbon capture system for recovery of CO2.

13 . The process of claim 12 , comprising:
outputting an oxidant forming feed stream from the carbon capture system to feed to the mixing device to mix with the mixing device portion of the flue gas and the oxygen to form the oxidant.

14 . The process of claim 12 , comprising:
splitting a second portion of the flue gas from a first portion of the flue gas, the mixing device portion of the flue gas comprising the second portion of the flue gas and the carbon capture portion of the flue gas comprising the first portion of the flue gas.

15 . The process of claim 14 , comprising:
splitting a third portion of the flue gas from the first portion of the flue gas after the first portion of the flue gas is passed through a cooler unit positioned between a location at which the second portion of the flue gas was split from the first portion of the flue gas and a feed compression system of the carbon capture system; feeding the third portion of the flue gas and the second portion of the flue gas to the mixing device as the mixing device portion of the flue gas for forming the oxidant.

16 . The process of claim 15 , wherein the mixing device portion of the flue gas is between 30% and 90% of the flue gas and the first portion of the flue gas is a remainder of the flue gas.

17 . The process of claim 15 , wherein the feeding of the third portion of the flue gas and the second portion of the flue gas

Assignees

• Air Prod & Chem

Inventors

• Thakkar Jay A
• Berger Alan D
• Genkin Eugene S
• Graham David Ross
• Higginbotham Paul

Classifications

• Y02E20/34

  Indirect CO2mitigation, i.e. by acting on non CO2directly related matters of the process, e.g. pre-heating or heat recovery · CPC title

• B01D53/1475

  Removing carbon dioxide · CPC title

• F23C9/00

  Combustion apparatus characterised by arrangements for returning combustion products or flue gases to the combustion chamber (fluidised bed combustion apparatus with means for recirculation of particles entrained from the bed F23C10/02; fluidised bed combustion apparatus with devices for removal and partial reintroduction of material from the bed F23C10/26) · CPC title

• C01B3/384

  with external heating of the catalyst · CPC title

• F23L7/007

  Supplying oxygen or oxygen-enriched air · CPC title