Conversion of Liquefied Hydrocarbon Gases on Commercial Nickel Catalysts

Abstract

The two-step conversion of industrial liquefied hydrocarbon gases (LHG) on NIAP-07-01 (NKM-1) and NIAP-03-01 catalysts for the production of hydrogen-containing gases was investigated. The experiments were carried out in flow reactors with a fixed catalyst bed at a pressure of 0.1 MPa under the following conditions: temperature 350–450 °C, gas hourly space velocity (GHSV) 1000–3000 h^–1, steam-gas ratio 4 : 1–8 : 1 (pre-reforming); and temperature 700 °C, GHSV 2000 h^–1, air-gas ratio 1.2 : 1 (steam-air reforming). Under the studied conditions, the concentrations of components of the converted gas correspond to the equilibrium values calculated within the Peng-Robinson model. The conversion of methane homologs in the pre-reforming step was found to be virtually 100 %; therewith, the methane concentration reached 32–54 %, and that of hydrogen, 24–47 %. To prevent the formation of elemental carbon (carbonization), pre-reforming of hydrocarbon gases with a high methane equivalent should be performed at H₂O : C > 2. In the two-step reforming, the yield of hydrogen-containing gas reaches 15.6 m3 from 1 m³ of the initial LHG with the hydrogen content 41.81 %, and the total content of CO and H₂ exceeds 52 %.