Process studies of the ReShift™ technology for CO-rich syngas production

Sammanfattning

Producing syngas with a low H[sub]2[/sub]/CO ratio remains challenging in current industrial practice, primarily due to process limitations related to feedstock composition, reaction thermodynamics and restricted flexibility in conventional reforming technologies. This report investigates the potential of the Topsoe ReShift[sup]TM[/sup] technology as a revamp option for syngas production with a lower H[sub]2[/sub]/CO ratio, lower steam-to-carbon (S/C) ratio and improved CO[sub]2[/sub] utilization. By using Topsoe’s internal software GIPS, a simulation was developed based on a running industrial steam methane reforming (SMR) plant and an existing base-case simulation, and sensitivity analyses were carried out for both a conventional SMR process and the integrated ReShift[sup]TM[/sup] process. The effects of reformer operating conditions, CO[sub]2[/sub] addition to the APOC reactor, CO[sub]2[/sub] preheat temperature and CO[sub]2[/sub] addition upstream of the tubular reformer were evaluated with focus on achieving increased CO production at a low S/C ratio while avoiding carbon formation. Based on the sensitivity analyses, selected cases, with the objective to achieve a H[sub]2[/sub]/CO ratio of 1, were further assessed with respect to duty demand, CO[sub]2[/sub] emissions and a rough estimate of revamp investment cost. The results show that the ReShift[sup]TM[/sup] technology enables operation at lower S/C ratios than conventional SMR while maintaining carbon-free operation and achieving significant net CO[sub]2[/sub] consumption in all the investigated ReShift cases. However, these benefits come at the expense of higher energy demand and additional equipment. Among the evaluated cases, no single configuration was optimal for all criteria, and the preferred revamp solution depends on the relative importance of syngas composition, energy demand, CO[sub]2[/sub] utilization and investment cost.