Reforming exchanger with integrated shift conversion

• US 9,101,899 B2
• Filed: 10/20/2011
• Issued: 08/11/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 10/20/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kellogg Brown & Root LLC (KBR Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Kellogg Brown & Root LLC (KBR Incorporated)
• Inventors: Singh, Shashi, Gursahani, Kamal, Burlingame, Robert, Weeks, Tim, Gosnell, Jim, Malhotra, Avinash
• Primary Examiner(s): HANDAL, KAITY V
• Application Number:
  US13/277,690
• Publication Number:
  US 20130099165A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,391 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 19/30 Loose or shaped packing elements, e.g. Raschig rings or Berl saddles, for pouring into the apparatus for mass or heat transfer
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2208/00115 with heat exchange elements inside the bed of solid particles
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2208/00132 Tubes
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2208/0023 with some catalyst tubes being empty, e.g. dummy tubes or flow-adjusting rods
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2208/00238 Adjusting the heat-exchange profile by adapting catalyst tubes or the distribution thereof, e.g. by using inserts in some of the tubes or adding external fins
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2208/065 Heating or cooling the reactor
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 2219/30215 Toroid or ring
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 8/0278 Feeding reactive fluids for solid material B01J8/0015
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 8/0285 Heating or cooling the reactor for tubular reactors in furnaces B01J8/062
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 8/0484 the beds being placed next to each other
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 8/0496 Heating or cooling the reactor
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 8/06 in tube reactors; the solid particles being arranged in tubes
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 8/065 Feeding reactive fluids
• CPC Class Codes: B01J 8/067 Heating or cooling the reactor B01J8/062 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: C01B 2203/0233 the reforming step being a steam reforming step
• CPC Class Codes: C01B 2203/0283 containing a CO-shift step, i.e. a water gas shift step
• CPC Class Codes: C01B 2203/044 Selective oxidation of carbon monoxide
• CPC Class Codes: C01B 2203/0833 Heating by indirect heat exchange with hot fluids, other than combustion gases, product gases or non-combustive exothermic reaction product gases
• CPC Class Codes: C01B 2203/82 Several process steps of C01B2203/02 - C01B2203/08 integrated into a single apparatus
• CPC Class Codes: C01B 3/38 using catalysts
• CPC Class Codes: C01B 3/382 : Multi-step processes
• CPC Class Codes: C01B 3/48 : followed by reaction of water vapour with carbon monoxide
• CPC Class Codes: Y02P 20/52 : using catalysts, e.g. selective catalysts

Abstract

Reforming exchangers for syngas production are provided. The reforming exchangers can have a shell-and-tube configuration and include a shift catalyst on the shell side of the exchanger to reduce a carbon monoxide concentration in a shell side product gas mixture. Processes for forming syngas using the reforming exchangers are also provided.

Claims

1. A syngas reforming exchanger, comprising:

a vessel comprising an elongated shell having a first end and a second end;

a shell side fluid inlet adjacent the first end for receiving a hot gas feed;

a tube side fluid inlet adjacent the second end for receiving a reactant feed gas;

a shell side fluid outlet fluidly isolated from the tube side fluid inlet by a tube sheet adjacent the second end for discharging a reduced carbon monoxide product gas mixture;

a tube bundle comprising a plurality of tubes that contain a reforming catalyst, wherein the tubes have an inlet end secured to the tube sheet for receiving the reactant feed gas and an outlet end adjacent the shell side fluid inlet for discharging a reformed product gas into the hot gas feed to form a gas mixture; and

one or more shift catalysts for converting carbon monoxide to carbon dioxide in the gas mixture to produce the reduced carbon monoxide product gas mixture, wherein the shift catalyst is contained on the shell side and is in contact with the tubes outer walls, and wherein the portion of the tubes concurrent with the shift catalyst is void of the reforming catalyst.

2. The syngas reforming exchanger of claim 1, further comprising a longitudinal shell side flow path for the gas mixture.

3. The syngas reforming exchanger of claim 1, further comprising catalyst-bearing monolithic structures disposed within the tubes for converting the reactant feed gas to the reformed product gas.

4. The syngas reforming exchanger of claim 3, wherein the tubes have an Lt/Dt ratio of at least about 300, wherein Lt is the length of the catalyst bearing portion of the tubes and Dt is the inside diameter of the tubes.

5. The syngas reforming exchanger of claim 3, wherein the catalyst-bearing monolithic structures are disposed within the tubes.

6. The syngas reforming exchanger of claim 1, wherein the shift catalyst is contained in a catalyst support grid.

7. The syngas reforming exchanger of claim 6, wherein the catalyst support grid is held in place by one or more tie rods secured to the tube sheet.

8. The syngas reforming exchanger of claim 1, wherein the shift catalyst is in the form of spheres, rings, pellets, or any combination thereof.

9. The syngas reforming exchanger of claim 1, further comprising a flow distributor disposed between the shell side fluid inlet and the outlet end of the tube bundle.

10. A syngas reforming exchanger comprising:

a vessel comprising an elongated shell having relatively high and low temperature ends;

a shell side fluid inlet adjacent the high temperature end for receiving a hot gas feed;

a tube side fluid inlet adjacent the low temperature end for receiving a reactant feed gas;

a shell side fluid outlet fluidly isolated from the tube side fluid inlet by a tube sheet adjacent the low temperature end for discharging a reduced carbon monoxide product gas mixture;

a tube bundle comprising a plurality of tubes that contain a reforming catalyst, wherein the tubes have an inlet end secured to the tube sheet for receiving the gas feed mixture and an outlet end adjacent the shell side fluid inlet for discharging reformed product gas into the hot gas feed to form a gas mixture; and

one or more shift catalysts for converting carbon monoxide to carbon dioxide in the gas mixture to produce the reduced carbon monoxide product gas mixture, wherein the shift catalyst is contained on the shell side and is in contact with the tubes outer walls, and wherein the portion of the tubes concurrent with the shift catalyst is void of the reforming catalyst.

11. The syngas reforming exchanger of claim 10, further comprising a longitudinal shell side flow path for the gas mixture;

catalyst-bearing monolithic structures disposed within the tubes for converting the reactant feed gas to the reformed product gas; and

a flow distributor disposed between the shell side fluid inlet and the outlet end of the tube bundle.

12. The syngas reforming exchanger of claim 11, wherein the catalyst-bearing monolithic structures are disposed within the tubes.