PROTECTIVE NITROGEN-HYDROGEN ATMOSPHERE FORMATION PROCESS Russian patent published in 2002 - IPC

FIELD: metallurgy. SUBSTANCE: process involves synthesis of nitrogen-hydrogen mixture from natural gas and diluting it with nitrogen. Synthesis is accomplished by consecutive thermocatalytic reforming of natural gas with water steam followed by secondary reforming of reaction mixture with air, catalytic afteroxidation of CO into CO₂, absorption removal of CO₂ and methanization, drying, and dilution with high-purity nitrogen obtained via low-temperature isolation of nitrogen from air. Thus formed atmosphere contains 4.5-5.0% hydrogen and characterized by dew point -57 C. EFFECT: simplified technology and reduced consumption of steam and power. 2 ex