A synthesis gas production catalyst structure or the like which can maintain stable high catalytic activity for a long period of time without degradation and can allow efficient production of a synthesis gas including carbon monoxide and hydrogen. The synthesis gas production catalyst structure 1 for use in producing a synthesis gas comprising carbon monoxide and hydrogen, the synthesis gas production catalyst structure 1 including: supports each having a porous structure and including a zeolite-type compound; and at least one catalytic material present in the support, in which each of the supports has channels communicating with one another, each of the supports has a ratio (L/d ratio) of long side dimension L to thickness dimension d of 5.0 or more, and the catalytic material is present at least in the channel of each of the supports.

The invention relates to a four-component catalyst and a seven-component catalyst and refractory supports for use in the thermoneutral reforming of petroleum-based liquid hydrocarbon fuels.

The invention relates to a method for decreasing the spread of the tube temperatures between tubes in a process involving the heating of at least one fluid in a furnace that comprises at least one radiation chamber with radiant walls, at least one essentially vertical row of tubes inside of which circulate the at least one fluid to be heated, and being equipped with burners that heat the tubes, where the method comprises the steps of: determining, for each of the tubes the skin temperature of the tube, selecting the 50% tubes having the lowest temperatures determined, the process being stopped, realizing on each tube selected an operation that decreases the flow of the fluid distributed to said tube while keeping the total flow rate of the fluid unchanged.

A method for upgrading a hydrocarbon feed gas to methanol, including the steps of: providing a hydrocarbon feed gas; optionally, purifying the hydrocarbon feed gas in a gas purification unit; optionally, prereforming the hydrocarbon feed gas together with a steam feedstock in a prereforming unit; carrying out steam methane reforming in a reforming reactor heated by means of an electrical power source; providing the synthesis gas to a methanol synthesis unit to provide a product including methanol and an off-gas. Also, a system for upgrading a hydrocarbon feed gas to methanol.

A method and apparatus for adjusting the temperature inside a reformer tube is provided. This includes utilizing at least one heating element. The heating element is inserted inside the reformer tube and is located approximately at the axial center of the reformer tube. The reformer tube is then filled with catalyst, thereby maintaining the central location of the heating element. The heat input of the heating element may now be adjusted, thereby controlling the temperature of the catalyst.

Proposed is a carbon dioxide reforming (CDR) reactor having a multilayered catalyst layer arrangement for preventing catalyst deactivation, wherein, in the reactor in which a CDR reaction for reacting methane (CH.sub.4) with carbon dioxide (CO.sub.2) to reform the methane into a synthesis gas including carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrogen (H.sub.2) is performed, in order to prevent a case where an endothermic reaction between a catalyst and heated reactant gas supplied to the reactor gradually causes the temperature of the reactant gas to decrease and the catalyst is deactivated by cokes generated due to the decrease in temperature of the reactant gas, CDR catalysts in the reactor are arranged in multiple layers in a multilayered structure to allow the reactant gas temperature that has decreased due to the endothermic reaction to be restored in spaces between the catalyst layers.

Apparatus for the endothermic reaction of a gas feed, the apparatus comprising: a pre-heater arranged for pre-heating the gas feed, at least one reactor tube, a furnace arranged for the radiation and/or convection heating of said at least one reactor tube, said at least one reactor tube being at least partially filled with a catalyst material configured for promoting the endothermic reaction, said at least one reactor tube comprising a tube inlet for said pre-heated gas feed, a main reaction tube portion extending within said furnace and a pre-reaction tube portion extending outside of the furnace, said pre-reaction tube portion being arranged between the tube inlet and the main reaction tube portion, wherein part of the catalyst material is extending within the pre-reaction tube portion.

A system for producing hydrogen including a methane pyrolysis reactor, a solid-gas separator, and a downstream unit. The system includes a hydrogen and nitrogen feed upstream of the reactor that includes a tube reactor, a catalyst, a frit, and a heating mechanism. The system includes a first and second pressure gauge. A process for producing hydrogen including feeding a hydrogen stream to activate a catalyst, feeding a methane feed to a methane pyrolysis reactor, monitoring a differential pressure, feeding a nitrogen stream to purge the catalyst, feeding the methane pyrolysis product stream to a solid-gas separator, recovering the solid carbon byproduct, feeding a gas mixture stream into a downstream unit and recovering the separated hydrogen. A process for producing hydrogen using methane pyrolysis reactors by concurrently operating at least one of the reactors in a reaction mode and at least one of the reactors in a regeneration mode.

A process is described for steam reforming a hydrocarbon feedstock, comprising passing a mixture of the hydrocarbon feedstock and steam through a catalyst bed comprising a particulate nickel steam reforming catalyst and a structured nickel steam reforming catalyst disposed within a plurality of externally heated tubes in a tubular steam reformer, wherein each tube has an inlet to which the mixture of hydrocarbon and steam is fed, an outlet from which a reformed gas containing hydrogen, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, steam and methane is recovered, and the steam reforming catalyst at the outlet of the tubes is the structured steam reforming catalyst, wherein the particulate steam reforming catalyst comprises 5 to 30% by weight nickel, and the structured steam reforming catalyst comprises nickel dispersed over the surface of a porous metal oxide present as a coating on a non-porous metal or ceramic structure.

A method for ammonia (NH.sub.3) decomposition to hydrogen (H.sub.2) and nitrogen (N.sub.2) using a ruthenium-doped alumina-supported cobalt/nickel (RuCoNi/Al.sub.2O.sub.3) catalyst. The method includes introducing and passing an NH.sub.3-containing feed gas stream into a reactor to contact the NH.sub.3-containing feed gas stream with a reduced RuCoNi/Al.sub.2O.sub.3 catalyst at a temperature of 100 to 1000 C. thereby converting at least a portion of the NH.sub.3 to H.sub.2 and regenerating the RuCoNi/Al.sub.2O.sub.3 catalyst particles to form a regenerated RuCoNi/Al.sub.2O.sub.3 catalyst, and producing a residue gas stream leaving the reactor.