PROCESS AND APPARATUS FOR GENERATING HYDROGEN AND HYDROGEN-CONTAINING GAS MIXTURES

Abstract

A process and apparatus for converting starting materials containing hydrocarbon into a hydrogen-rich product gas is disclosed. A raw synthesis gas containing hydrogen (H2) and carbon monoxide (CO) is generated from the hydrocarbon-containing starting materials in a first process step of which at least a part undergoes a catalytically supported water-gas shift reaction to increase the percentage of hydrogen. The water-gas shift reaction is carried out at temperatures between 50 and 200° C., preferably between 60 and 150° C., and at temperatures between 1 and 10 bar, preferably between 1 and 5 bar, in a reactor in which a suitable catalyst is present.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of an embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

The embodiment of FIG. 1 concerns a process and apparatus for generating hydrogen from wood chips.

In the biomass gasifier V a raw synthesis gas containing hydrogen and carbon monoxide is generated from the wood chips by pyrolysis at low pressure and taken at a temperature of approximately 850° C. over line 1 to the gas wash W. In the gas wash, which is designed as a water wash, undesirable materials such as aromatic compounds, tars and dusts are washed out of the raw synthesis gas, whereby the temperature drops to approximately 100° C. and the raw synthesis gas is saturated with water. From the water wash W, the cleansed raw synthesis gas is taken over line 2 to the SILP reactor S to perform a water-gas shift reaction. The reactor contains a suitable catalyst and the carbon monoxide present in the raw synthesis gas, catalytically supported by water, is converted into hydrogen and carbon monoxide except for a few ppm. The product gas which contains other components besides hydrogen such as carbon dioxide and water is drawn off from the SILP reactor and taken to the water separator C in which water is condensed out and removed from the product gas. A gas mixture consisting almost entirely of hydrogen and carbon dioxide is drawn off over line 4 and conducted to the compressor P from which the gas mixture flows at increased pressure over line 5 and is taken for further processing (not shown).

The foregoing disclosure has been set forth merely to illustrate the invention and is not intended to be limiting. Since modifications of the disclosed embodiments incorporating the spirit and substance of the invention may occur to persons skilled in the art, the invention should be construed to include everything within the scope of the appended claims and equivalents thereof.

Claims

1. A process for converting starting materials containing hydrocarbon into a hydrogen-rich product gas, wherein a raw synthesis gas containing hydrogen (H2) and carbon monoxide (CO) is generated from the starting materials containing hydrocarbon in a first process step of which at least a part undergoes a catalytically supported water-gas shift reaction to increase a percentage of hydrogen, wherein the water-gas shift reaction is carried out at temperatures between 50 and 200° C. and at pressures between 1 and 10 bar in a reactor in which a suitable catalyst is present.

2. The process according to claim 1, wherein the water-gas shift reaction is carried out at temperatures between 60 and 150° C.

3. The process according to claim 1, wherein the water-gas shift reaction is carried out at pressures between 1 and 5 bar.

4. The process according to claim 1, wherein the starting materials containing hydrocarbon are converted at low pressures of less than 12 bar by pyrolysis into the raw synthesis gas.

5. The process according to claim 1, wherein the raw synthesis gas undergoes a gas wash using water before it is introduced into the water-gas shift reactor.

6. The process according to claim 1, wherein the starting materials containing hydrocarbon are materials created by biological methods.

7. The process according to claim 1, wherein a supported ionic liquid phase reactor is used as the water-gas shift reactor in which the suitable catalyst is present in an ionic fluid immobilized on a substrate.

8. The process according to claim 1, wherein a part of the raw synthesis gas is taken in a by-pass to the water-gas shift reactor and combined with a product from the water-gas shift reactor into the hydrogen-rich product gas, where a variable of a by-pass stream is controlled such that an H2/CO ratio in the hydrogen-rich product gas corresponds to a specified value.

9. A process for converting starting materials containing hydrocarbon into a hydrogen-rich product gas, comprising the steps of: generating a raw synthesis gas containing hydrogen (H2) and carbon monoxide (CO) from the starting materials; andperforming a catalytically supported water-gas shift reaction on at least a part of the raw synthesis gas to increase a percentage of hydrogen, wherein the water-gas shift reaction is carried out at temperatures between 50 and 200° C. and at pressures between 1 and 10 bar in a reactor.

10. The process according to claim 9, further comprising the step of water washing the raw synthesis gas prior to the step of performing the catalytically supported water-gas shift reaction.

11. The process according to claim 9, wherein in the catalytically supported water-gas shift reaction, the carbon monoxide in the raw synthesis gas is converted into hydrogen and carbon monoxide.

12. The process according to claim 9, further comprising the steps of condensing and removing water from a product gas produced by the catalytically supported water-gas shift reaction to form a gas mixture.

13. The process according to claim 12, further comprising the step of compressing the gas mixture.

14. The process according to claim 9, further comprising the step of combining a part of the raw synthesis gas with the part of the raw synthesis gas on which was performed the catalytically supported water-gas shift reaction.

15. An apparatus for converting starting materials containing hydrocarbon into a hydrogen-rich product gas, comprising: a biomass gasifier, wherein a raw synthesis gas containing hydrogen (H2) and carbon monoxide (CO) is generatable from the starting materials in the biomass gasifier; anda reactor coupled to the biomass gasifier, wherein a catalytically supported water-gas shift reaction is performable in the reactor on at least a part of the raw synthesis gas, and wherein the water-gas shift reaction is performable at temperatures between 50 and 200° C. and at pressures between 1 and 10 bar.

16. The apparatus according to claim 15, further comprising a water wash coupled to the reactor.

17. The apparatus according to claim 15, further comprising a water separator coupled to the reactor.

18. The apparatus according to claim 17, further comprising a compressor coupled to the water separator.

19. The apparatus according to claim 15, further comprising a reactor by-pass.

20. The apparatus according to claim 15, wherein the reactor is a supported ionic liquid phase (SILP) reactor.