A system and method including a sulfur recovery system (SRU) having a Claus system, reacting hydrogen sulfide and oxygen in a furnace to give sulfur dioxide, performing a Claus reaction in the furnace to give elemental sulfur, performing the Claus reaction in a Claus reactor to give elemental sulfur at a temperature greater than a dew point of the elemental sulfur, performing the Claus reaction in a Claus cycling reactor to give elemental sulfur at a temperature less than a solidification temperature of the elemental sulfur, depositing the elemental sulfur as solid elemental sulfur on catalyst in the Claus cycling reactor, and regenerating (heating) the Claus cycling reactor thereby forming elemental sulfur vapor from the solid elemental sulfur.

The invention relates to a catalytic reactor comprising a combustion reaction chamber with catalytic reactor tubes filled with catalyst elements and metal radiation surfaces arranged in the chamber to improve heat transfer.

The invention relates to a reformer furnace for catalytic reforming of a carbon-containing input material with steam. The reformer furnace has a steel construction which serves as a framework for a refractory lining and for the fastening of burners, reformer tubes and supply and discharge lines. The burners and reformer tubes are arranged in rows, parallel to one another and in alternating fashion. The steel construction includes a plurality of main carrier units, wherein each main carrier unit has at least two vertically extending supports and a horizontally extending main carrier which connects the supports. This type of steel construction makes it possible to achieve uniform spacing of the reformer tubes and burners over the entire reformer furnace. This results in advantages in terms of the maximum operating temperature of the reformer tubes, thereby extending their service life.

A combined reforming apparatus is provided. The combined reforming apparatus includes a body, a first catalyst tube disposed inside the body and reacting at a first temperature to reform hydrocarbons (C.sub.xH.sub.y) having two or more carbon atoms into methane (CH.sub.4), a second catalyst tube disposed inside the body, connected to the first catalyst tube, and reacting at a second temperature higher than the first temperature to reform methane (CH.sub.4) into synthesis gas comprising hydrogen (H.sub.2) and carbon monoxide (CO), and a combustion unit configured to supply heat to the first and second catalyst tubes.

A process is proposed for producing pure hydrogen by steam reforming of a feed gas comprising hydrocarbons, preferably natural gas or naphtha, with a simultaneously low and preferably adjustable export steam flow rate. The process includes the steam reforming of the feed gas, for which the heat of reaction required is provided by combustion of one or more fuel gases with combustion air in a multitude of burners arranged within the reformer furnace. According to the invention, the combustion air, before being introduced into the burners, is heated by means of at least one heat exchanger in indirect heat exchange with the hot flue gas to temperatures of at least 530° C.

The present invention relates to a method to prevent the fluidization of a catalytic fixed bed present in a tubular reactor operated in upward-flow configuration by estimating a pressure drop margin remaining before fluidization of the catalytic bed and adjusting the reactant gas flow in response. It relates also to a method to operate safely a furnace suitable for performing endothermic reactions containing a plurality of catalytic fixed bed reactors operated in upward-flow configuration, and to a method to debottleneck safely a catalytic fixed bed reactor involving a gas flowing in up flow direction.

A process is proposed for producing pure hydrogen by steam reforming of a feed gas comprising hydrocarbons, preferably natural gas or naphtha, with a simultaneously low and preferably adjustable export steam flow rate. The process includes the steam reforming of the feed gas, for which the heat of reaction required is provided by combustion of one or more fuel gases with combustion air in a multitude of burners arranged within the reformer furnace. According to the invention, the combustion air, before being introduced into the burners, is heated by means of at least one heat exchanger in indirect heat exchange with the hot flue gas to temperatures of at least 530° C.

The present invention provides a process of catalytic depolymerization of polystyrene involving a spherical catalyst, an apparatus for carrying out the depolymerization, recovering the aromatic rich liquid product and recycling the catalyst without any decrease in the catalytic performance. Further, the present invention provides that the aromatic rich liquid product includes styrene, xylene, benzene, ethyl benzene, with styrene content greater than 65%. Additionally, the catalyst involved in the depolymerization process is a spherical catalyst that is easily recovered from coke/char formed during the process and is recycled and reused without any decrease in the catalytic performance.

A process for producing olefins by cracking paraffins in the presence of methane. In the conventional steam cracking processes for olefin production, steam is used as a diluent in the feed mixture to the thermal cracker. In the processes provided herein, methane replaces steam as a diluent in the feed mixture to the thermal cracker. Replacing steam with methane as a diluent has a potential for cost savings in the construction and operation of a thermal cracking plant for olefin production. In addition, it leads to a much simpler cracking process compared to the conventional steam cracking technology as in the state of the art.

A process for steam or dry reforming of hydrocarbons in a reforming reactor, comprising the steps of: (a) passing a feedstock, comprising one or more hydrocarbons together with steam and/or CO.sub.2, through a first catalytic zone at an elevated temperature, to form a partly reformed process gas, wherein the first catalytic zone comprises one or more elongate conduits, each containing reforming catalyst; and (b) passing the partly reformed process gas through a second catalytic zone at an elevated temperature, so as to form a reformed gas stream, wherein the second catalytic zone comprises one or more elongate conduits, each containing reforming catalyst; wherein the process further comprises the combustion of a fluid fuel with a combustion-sustaining medium in an exothermic combustion region, to form a hot combustion products stream, wherein the exothermic combustion region is adjacent to and laterally surrounds each of the second catalytic zone elongate conduits.