Evolution of processes for synthesis gas production: Recent developments in an old technology

The manufacture of gas mixtures of carbon monoxide and hydrogen has been a vitally important part of chemical technology for about a century. Originally, such mixtures were obtained by the reaction of steam with incandescent coke and were known as “water gas”. Used first as a fuel, water gas soon attracted attention as a source of hydrogen and carbon monoxide for the production of chemicals, at which time it gradually became known as synthesis gas. Eventually, steam reforming processes, in which steam is reacted with natural gas (methane) or a petroleum naphtha over a nickel catalyst, found wide application for the production of synthesis gas. A modified version of steam reforming known as autothermal reforming, which is a combination of partial oxidation near the reactor inlet with conventional steam reforming further along the reactor, improves the overall reactor efficiency and increases the flexibility of the process. Noncatalytic partial oxidation processes using oxygen instead of steam also found wi...