【Ten Years of Rapid Development in Chemical Equipment】1911–2017: World’s first 10,000 cubic meter-scale methane-carbon dioxide reforming unit put into operation

Thread Content

Safety first. Prevention first – let’s give credit and support to China’s achievements in chemical engineering technology and equipment. **********************【Ten Years of Rapid Development in Chemical Engineering Equipment】A continuously updated summary post is available; feel free to join the discussions at https://bbs.hcbbs.com/thread-3576046-1-1.html (Source: Haichuan Chemical Engineering Forum) ***************** Carbon dioxide and methane are typical greenhouse gases, yet they are also important carbon-containing resources. The scientific community has been working on ways to recover and convert carbon dioxide. Recently, the world’s first 10,000 cubic meter-scale unit for the self-heating reforming of methane and carbon dioxide to produce syngas began operating stably at the coal-to-oil facility of Shanxi Lu’an Group, thus achieving the aforementioned goal. 　　The Chinese Academy of Sciences announced that the technology for producing syngas through methane and carbon dioxide reforming originated from a project on methane and carbon dioxide reforming jointly launched by the Shanghai Institute of Advanced Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanxi Lu’an Mining (Group) Co., Ltd., and the Dutch oil company Shell. 　　Using methane and carbon dioxide as carbon sources, they can be converted into syngas (CO and H2) under certain conditions; this process is known as methane-carbon dioxide reforming or dry reforming. Compared to traditional methane steam reforming, methane carbon dioxide reforming consumes almost no water; instead, it makes extensive use of carbon dioxide, thereby reducing energy consumption and easing the pressure to cut greenhouse gas emissions, which has earned it widespread attention worldwide. However, this reaction process is particularly prone to carbon deposition, and anti-carbon-deposition catalysts as well as specialized reactors are recognized as the key challenges in realizing its industrial application. Therefore, relevant domestic and international research and development has not yet reached the scale of industrial pilot plants or demonstrations. 　　It is understood that the Key Laboratory of Low-Carbon Transformation Science and Engineering at the Shanghai Advanced Research Institute has successfully resolved the issue of the stability of nanometal materials, particularly with regard to the matching between the catalyst structure and its internal architecture. On this basis, this technology can be extended to water vapor reforming and multi-reforming applications, enabling flexible adjustment of the H2/CO ratio in syngas. Therefore, this technology is suitable for the conversion and utilization of conventional or unconventional natural gas, as well as for the utilization of off-gases in the coal chemical and metallurgical industries. 　　Building on the preliminary trial operations and system optimization, the methane-carbon dioxide autothermal reforming syngas production unit was put into full-scale operation on June 21, 2017; it achieved full capacity production by July 10, and the on-site calibration organized by the China Petroleum and Chemical Industry Federation was completed on August 2. Experts unanimously agree that this research achieves efficient recycling of carbon dioxide and flexible adjustment of the syngas ratio, and recommend that its industrial application be promoted as soon as possible. 　　To date, the device has been operating stably for over 1,000 hours, producing more than 200,000 Nm3 of product gas per day with a low H2/CO molar ratio, and converting up to 60 tons of CO2 per day.