Process for Conversion of Natural Gas to Syngas Using a Solid Oxidizing Agent

Abstract

A process for the conversion of natural gas to syngas. The process uses a solid oxidizing agent in place of an oxidizing gas for the partial oxidation of the natural gas.

1 . A process for producing a syngas from natural gas comprising:
 contacting a natural gas stream with an oxidized solid material in a reaction zone under reaction conditions, where the reaction temperature is greater than 500° C. thereby generating a syngas and a reduced solid material;   passing the reduced solid material to a regeneration zone; and   contacting the reduced solid material with an oxidizing gas under reaction conditions thereby regenerating the oxidized solid material.   
   
   
       2 . The process of  claim 1  wherein the oxidizing gas comprises air or oxygen. 
   
   
       3 . The process of  claim 2  wherein the oxidizing gas further comprises steam. 
   
   
       4 . The process of  claim 1  further comprising feeding steam into the reaction zone. 
   
   
       5 . The process of  claim 1  wherein the oxidizes solid material is a granular form of a metal oxide, wherein the metal in the metal oxide is selected from the group consisting of alkali metals, alkaline earth metals, transition metals, and mixtures thereof. 
   
   
       6 . The process of  claim 5  wherein the metal in the metal oxide is selected from the group consisting of manganese (Mn), iron (Fe), nickel (Ni), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), titanium (Ti), vanadium (V), and mixtures thereof. 
   
   
       7 . The process of  claim 1  wherein the reaction conditions in the reaction zone include a temperature between 600° C. and 850° C. 
   
   
       8 . The process of  claim 1  wherein the reaction conditions in the reaction zone include a pressure between 0.103 MPa (15 psia) and 6.9 MPa (1000 psia). 
   
   
       9 . The process of  claim 1  wherein the natural gas comprises more than 90% methane. 
   
   
       10 . The process of  claim 1  wherein the syngas comprises H 2  and CO. 
   
   
       11 . The process of  claim 1  wherein the oxidized solid material and the natural gas are carried cocurrently in the reactor. 
   
   
       12 . A process for producing a syngas from natural gas comprising:
 contacting a natural gas stream to an oxidation process in the presence of a solid oxide material and a hydrocarbon activation material under reaction conditions, where the reaction temperature is greater than 500° C. thereby generating a syngas and a reduced solid oxide material, where the natural gas and the solid oxide material are carried cocurrently in a reactor;   passing the reduced solid oxide material to a regeneration zone; and   oxidizing the reduced solid oxide material with an oxidizing material thereby regenerating the solid oxide material.   
   
   
       13 . The process of  claim 12  wherein the oxidizing gas comprises air or oxygen. 
   
   
       14 . The process of  claim 13  wherein the oxidizing gas further comprises steam. 
   
   
       15 . The process of  claim 12  wherein the oxidizes solid material is a granular form of a metal oxide, and where the metal in the metal oxide is selected from the group consisting of alkali metals, alkaline earth metals, transition metals, and mixtures thereof. 
   
   
       16 . The process of  claim 15  wherein the metal in the metal oxide is selected from the group consisting of manganese (Mn), iron (Fe), copper (Cu), nickel (Ni), zinc (Zn), titanium (Ti), vanadium (V), and mixtures thereof. 
   
   
       17 . The process of  claim 12  wherein the hydrocarbon activation material is selected from the group consisting of chromium (Cr), manganese (Mn), iron (Fe), cobalt (Co), nickel (Ni), molybdenum (Mo), technetium (Te), ruthenium (Ru), rhodium (Rh), palladium (Pd), tungsten (W), rhenium (Re), osmium (Os), iridium (Ir), platinum (Pt), and mixtures thereof. 
   
   
       18 . The process of  claim 12  wherein the reaction conditions in the reaction zone include a temperature between 600° C. and 850° C. 
   
   
       19 . The process of  claim 12  wherein the reaction conditions in the reaction zone include a pressure between 0.103 MPa (15 psia) and 6.9 MPa (1000 psia).