METHOD FOR STEAM CONVERSION OF METHANE AND/OR LIGHT HYDROCARBON MIXTURES Russian patent published in 2022 - IPC C01B3/38 

FIELD: methane or methane-containing hydrocarbons steam reforming.

SUBSTANCE: invention relates to a method for the steam reforming of methane or methane-containing hydrocarbons, which includes obtaining an initial hydrocarbon-steam mixture and contacting it at high temperature with a catalytic material containing finely granulated natural serpentinite or another material from the group of silicate ultrabasic rocks, while passing said mixture through a layer of such material. The method is characterized by the fact that it is carried out in the form of a cyclic process using three reactors, while in the current cycle in the first reactor the specified contacting is carried out, passing the hydrocarbon-steam mixture under a pressure of 10-100 atm through a layer of fresh catalytic material with a granule size of 0.1 -2.0 mm, which is the load of this reactor, at a temperature of at least 800°C and a flow rate of this mixture of 100-200 volumes per hour relative to the volume of catalytic material, the gases leaving this reactor are fed into a second reactor structurally identical to it, in in which, in the previous cycle, said contacting has already been carried out under the above conditions, while the temperature in this reactor is maintained within the range of 250-500°C and gases are kept in it, releasing only the resulting hydrogen through a hydrogen-selective membrane, with a total duration of contact in both of these reactors of at least 1 hour, during the same time interval in the third reactor, structurally identical to the two previous ones, further cooling of the catalytic material that had contact with the hydrocarbon-steam mixture in the previous cycle is carried out under the conditions indicated above for the second reactor, the gases are released, after which this catalytic material, which has undergone carbonation, is unloaded and replaced with fresh one. The next cycle is carried out, in which this reactor is used as the first one mentioned above, the previously used as the first reactor is used as the second, and the reactor used as the second is used as the third, and then the hydrocarbon-steam mixture is contacted with the catalytic material, the selection of the produced hydrogen, the unloading of the spent carbonatized catalytic material and its replacement with fresh one, making circular permutations of the three reactors with a frequency of three cycles.

EFFECT: performing the process under conditions simultaneously acceptable both for catalysis during steam reforming and for chemisorption (carbonatization) of the catalytic material.

3 cl, 10 tbl, 10 ex, 4 dwg