The present invention provides an iron and steel smelting method, wherein separating the product of the catalytic dehydrogenation reaction on propane to obtain a mixed gas containing hydrogen, methane, and ethane; and mixing the mixed gas with water and/or CO.sub.2 as a catalytic conversion raw material, and producing synthesis gas by means of a catalytic conversion reaction, the synthesis gas being used for iron smelting, and electricity being used to provide energy for the catalytic conversion reaction. The method catalytic dehydrogenation of propane is combined with steam cracking, and unconverted propane is prepared into methane, ethane, etc. by means of steam cracking; synthesis gas is further obtained by means of reforming and component adjustment, and the synthesis gas is a good raw material for direct reduction of iron.

Disclosed is a single process for producing hydrogen, carbon monoxide, and carbon from methane by forming gas products comprising hydrogen and carbon monoxide, and solid products comprising carbon and an iron-based catalyst from methane in a methane-containing feedstock through pyrolysis route involving auto-thermal reduction in a rotary kiln-type reactor in the presence of an iron-based catalyst and separating and recovering respective products.

The invention relates to a method for producing carbon-containing products selected from the group comprising or consisting of gasoline, diesel, kerosene and methane from the steam upstream or downstream of a steam turbine or from geothermally derived steam, characterized in that, at temperatures above 400 C., the carbon-containing products are obtained exclusively or predominantly from the steam and from carbon dioxide (CO2).

The invention further relates to a fuel production system suitable for obtaining carbon-containing products selected from the group comprising or consisting of gasoline, diesel, kerosene and methane from the steam upstream or downstream of a steam turbine or from geothermally derived steam, characterized in that the system is designed to carry out the aforementioned method.

The invention relates to a process and an apparatus for producing an olefin-containing feed stream for a steam reforming plant. According to certain embodiments of the invention, the olefin-containing hydrocarbon starting material is for this purpose vaporized and catalytically hydrogenated. The hydrogenation product stream obtained is separated into a gaseous reforming feed stream, which is fed to a steam reforming plant, and a gaseous recycle stream. As a result of the cooling according to the invention of the gaseous recycle stream down to at least partial condensation thereof and the separate recirculation of the gaseous partial recycle stream and of the liquid partial recycle stream, the procurement of a large and complicated circulation compressor is avoided and electric energy for operating this compressor is saved.

Natural gas liquefaction process in combination with a synthesis gas production process, where the steam derived from the synthesis gas production process is used as a heating source for the implementation of the pre-treatment step for eliminating the impurities liable to freeze during the natural gas liquefaction process.

This invention relates to a process and an apparatus for producing a mixed feed stream for a steam reforming plant from a first feed stream containing methane and a second feed stream comprising higher hydrocarbons, olefins and diolefins. According to the invention, the required hydrogenation of the mono- and diolefins and the hydrodesulfurization of the organic sulfur compounds contained in the feed stream are carried out step by step under process conditions optimized in each case. Furthermore, the inlet temperature into the respective reaction zone is controlled such that overheating of the feedstocks is avoided, which otherwise leads to undesired coke deposits, cloggings and the accelerated deactivation of the catalysts used.

An improved hydrogen generation system and method for using the same are provided. The system includes an HDS unit configured to remove sulfur from a process gas and a fuel gas, a pre-reformer configured to convert heavy hydrocarbons in the process gas and the fuel gas to methane, a first heat exchanger configured to dry the pre-reformed fuel gas, a second heat exchanger configured to heat the dry pre-reformed fuel gas, and a reformer configured to produce a syngas and flue gas.

The invention is directed to a process for the preparation of a syngas comprising hydrogen and carbon monoxide from a methane comprising gas, which process comprises the steps of: (a) reacting the methane comprising gas with an oxidizing gas in an autothermal reformer to obtain a hot raw syngas comprising carbon monoxide and hydrogen; (b) cooling the hot raw syngas resulting from step (a) to obtain the syngas, wherein step (b) comprises cooling the hot raw syngas by indirect heat exchange against the methane comprising gas used in step (a) and wherein sulphur is added upstream of cooling step (b). The invention also relates to a process for the preparation of hydrocarbon products in which a feed syngas is prepared in the process as described above followed by a desulphurization treatment and the desulphurized syngas is subsequently converted into hydrocarbon products in a Fischer-Tropsch process.

There is proposed a method for pre-reforming a hydrocarbonaceous feed stream into a pre-reforming product containing carbon oxides, hydrogen and hydrocarbons, in which the adiabatically operated pre-reforming reactor comprises at least two reaction zones designed as fixed beds in a common reactor vessel, which are in fluid connection with each other and are filled with beds of granular, nickel-containing catalyst active for pre-reforming, wherein the first reaction zone in flow direction is filled with a catalyst active for high-temperature pre-reforming and the last reaction zone in flow direction is filled with a catalyst active for low-temperature pre-reforming.

Process for the production of synthesis gas from hydrocarbon feed containing higher hydrocarbons comprising bypassing a portion of the hydrocarbon feed around a first pre-reforming stage and passing the pre-reformed and bypassed portions through at least a second pre-reforming stage.