【Ten Years of Rapid Development in Chemical Equipment】From 2023 to 2025, plants for the catalytic oxidation of natural gas at a rate of 15,000 Nm³/h to produce hydrogen and syngas were put into operation successfully, using non-catalytic oxidation technology (POX)

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Let’s give praise and support to the achievements made in China’s chemical engineering technology and equipment; your participation in discussions is the greatest encouragement. **********************【Ten Years of Great Development in Chemical Engineering Equipment】A continuously updated summary post – feel free to join the discussions: https://bbs.hcbbs.com/thread-3576046-1-1.html ***************** On May 16th, it was learned from Shanghai Hanxing Energy Technology Co., Ltd. (abbreviated as Hanxing Energy) that the natural gas non-catalytic oxidation hydrogen production and syngas production systems designed by this company for a chemical technology company in Ningbo have now begun producing high-quality hydrogen (99.9% vol) and syngas (49% vol CO + 49% vol H₂), after going through heating-up procedures and inspections to ensure they were ready for operation； After the optimization adjustments, all process parameters met the design specifications and satisfied the requirements for normal operation. The qualified products were integrated into the plant’s pipeline network, marking the successful commissioning of the entire facility for the production of syngas and hydrogen through non-catalytic oxidation of natural gas. According to Ji Ziyi, chairman of Hanxing Energy Company, the gas generation section of this facility uses non-catalytic oxidation technology (POX). In this process, pure oxygen and natural gas are used as raw materials, and a fluidized bed reactor is employed to carry out partial oxidation reactions under pressurized, non-catalytic conditions, thereby producing crude synthesis gas consisting of CO and H₂. This gas can be further used to produce hydrogen, as well as bulk chemicals such as ethylene glycol, methanol, and ammonia. Compared with the synthetic gas and hydrogen production technology via natural gas steam reforming (SMR), the POX process has distinct features: first, it does not require a catalyst, so there is no need for pretreatment of the feedstock; it can handle a wide range of feedstocks, including various gaseous and liquid carbon-containing organic substances such as waste liquids and waste gases ； Second, the H₂/CO ratio of the syngas after conversion is close to 2:1 ； Secondly, it produces more CO and less H2, making it highly suitable for the production of products that require CO, such as methanol, ethylene glycol, and in F-T synthesis processes. There is no need for a shift unit, which greatly simplifies the process flow and reduces investment costs ； Third, no process steam is required, resulting in a significant reduction in the system’s energy consumption. It is understood that the pressure for the catalytic conversion of natural gas is generally 1.0~8.5 MPaG (depending on the requirements of subsequent units); in this installation, the conversion pressure is set at ~2.35 MPaG, with a conversion temperature of ~1280°C. At such high temperatures, the rate of chemical reactions is relatively fast, while the rate of the conversion process is controlled by the transport process. To this end, technical approaches such as burner structure optimization, furnace structure and size optimization, and the matching of burners with the furnace body are employed to create an appropriate flow field within the conversion furnace, thereby enhancing the mixing and heat and mass transfer processes and achieving good process and engineering results: high effective gas composition, high methane conversion rate, and long burner lifespan. The syngas heat recovery unit utilizes a combination of fire-tube waste heat boilers and a series of heat exchangers, offering high heat recovery efficiency and stable operational performance. Ji Zhiyuan explained that the purification section of this device uses the MDEA method for decarburization, as well as pressure swing adsorption (PSA) and temperature swing adsorption (TSA) technologies for purification. The complete installation was designed with construction drawings by Anhui Huadong Chemical and Pharmaceutical Engineering Co., Ltd., which is affiliated with Hanxing Energy. The pressure swing adsorption (PSA) and temperature swing adsorption (TSA) purification processes both make use of Hanxing Energy’s proprietary technologies. The entire system features a simple process flow, good process stability, flexible system operation, and lower energy consumption.