Boreskov Institute of Catalysis of the Siberian Branch of Russian ...

VARIANTS OF THE CATALYST BED WITH CONTROLLEDTEMPERATURE PROFILE IN TUBULAR DEVICE FORTHE SINGLE-STAGE WATER GAS SHIFT PROCESSN.A. Baronskaya, A.A. Khassin, Е.I. Smirnov, T.M. YurievaPP-III-1Boreskov Institute of Catalysis, Prosp. Ac. Lavrentieva, 5, 630090, Novosibirsk, RussiaPhone: +7-383-3309109; fax: +7-383-3308056; e-mail: baronskaya@catalysis.ruConversion of the natural gas, basically consisting of methane, is the main industrialmethod of hydrogen production for its further use in ammonia synthesis, hydrogenation ofpetroleum products (hydrotreating, hydrocracking and etc) and other organic compounds, andas a fuel for ecologically clean energy production in fuel cells [i,ii].The extent of carbon monoxide conversion by water gas shift reaction (WGSR) isdetermined by thermodynamic equilibrium and depends on the temperature in the catalystlayer. High carbon monoxide conversion extent can be only achieved at low temperatures.Figure 1. Temperature dependence of the carbon monoxide conversion extent in the course of thewater gas shift reaction.Х eq – equilibrium conversion extent (the initial gas composition: СО (6.3%), СО 2 (4.7%),Н 2 (44%), Н 2 О (45%));Т opt – optimal temperature profile under continuous heat removal along catalyst bed (for thehypothetical catalyst, which is thermostable in a wide temperature range);HT WGSR – LT WGSR – typical temperature profile of the traditional WGSR process.Figure 1 shows temperature dependence of equilibrium CO conversion in the WGSRstarting from the reaction mixture composition: СО (6.3%), СО 2 (4.7%), Н 2 (44%), Н 2 О(45%), the optimal temperature profile along the catalyst bed for the process operation withuse of the hypothetical catalyst, which is thermostable in a wide temperature range, and that303