The present invention is a system and method of heating a reaction cell that produces hydrogen from a mixture of hydrocarbon fuel and steam. The reaction cell contains a first tube of hydrogen permeable material and a second tube of hydrogen impermeable material. The first tube and the second tube are concentrically positioned so that a gap space exists between the two tubes. A heat pipe structure is utilized to heat the gap space. The heat pipe structure defines an enclosed vapor chamber. A volume of a multi-phase material is disposed within the vapor chamber. The multi-phase material changes phase between a liquid and gas within an operating temperature range. A heating element is used to heat the vapor chamber to the operating temperature range. The vapor chamber transfers heat along its length in the same manner as a heat pipe.

Methods and systems for producing ammonia, urea, and UAN are described herein. The methods can include providing a hydrocarbon feed stock and an oxygen-containing stream and reacting the hydrocarbon feed stock with the oxygen-containing stream to provide a syngas containing carbon dioxide and blue hydrogen. The methods can also include electrolyzing water to provide green hydrogen and blending the blue hydrogen with the green hydrogen to provide a blended hydrogen. The blended hydrogen can be introduced to an ammonia synthesis system to provide an ammonia product, which can be further processed to provide urea and/or UAN. The ratio of green to blue hydrogen in the blended hydrogen can be based on available green credits.

A cylindrical shift converter (4) is disposed within an annular heat exchanger (28, 24) which has an outer wall (5). A plurality of spiral rods (90) create a plurality of spiral gas passages (26a) between the outer wall and a thin shell (92). The outer diameter of the thin shell is at least about 3/16 inch (about 4 mm) less than the inner diameter of an inner wall (20) of an annular hydrodesulfurizer (10), to facilitate inserting the shift converter and heat exchanger into the hydrodesulfurizer to form a unitized assembly (2). The spiral passages open into the hydrodesulfurizer.

Disclosed is a technology based upon the nesting of tubes to provide chemical reactors or chemical reactors with built in heat exchanger. As a chemical reactor, the technology provides the ability to manage the temperature within a process flow for improved performance, control the location of reactions for corrosion control, or implement multiple process steps within the same piece of equipment. As a chemical reactor with built in heat exchanger, the technology can provide large surface areas per unit volume and large heat transfer coefficients. The technology can recover the thermal energy from the product flow to heat the reactant flow to the reactant temperature, significantly reducing the energy needs for accomplishment of a process.

A fuel cell module is made up of a fuel cell stack and fuel cell peripheral equipment. The fuel cell module includes a first area where an exhaust gas combustor and a start-up combustor are provided, an annular second area around the first area and where a reformer and an evaporator are provided, and an annular third area around the second area and where a heat exchanger is provided.

The invention relates to a plant and a method for the production of decarbonised hydrogen using carbonate, water, gas containing hydrocarbons and electricity. The plant 100 first of all comprises an electric calciner 10, a contactor 20, an apparatus for correcting the pH 30 and a metering device 40. The plant 100 is suitable for receiving electrical energy, carbonate, water, natural gas at its input and for releasing decarbonised hydrogen at its outlet and an alkaline water rich in bicarbonates which, once released into the sea, represents the permanent storage for CO.sub.2. The plant 100 uses bicarbonates as permanent storage of CO.sub.2 in the sea: this storage allows the production of decarbonised hydrogen at low costs and in modular plants.

The invention relates to a process for the preparation of a syngas comprising hydrogen and carbon monoxide comprising the steps of:

(a) reacting a preheated methane comprising gas with an oxidising gas 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 by indirect heat exchange against water to produce saturated steam;

(c) further cooling the raw syngas obtained in step (b) by indirect heat exchange against a methane comprising gas to obtain a cooled raw syngas and the preheated methane comprising gas for use in step (a),

wherein:

(i) steps (b) and (c) take place in a single cooling device for combined indirect heat exchange against water and against the methane comprising gas; and

(ii) the preheated methane comprising gas obtained in step (c) has a temperature between 400 and 650 C.

An apparatus and method for enhancing the yield and purity of hydrogen when reforming hydrocarbons is disclosed in one embodiment of the invention as including receiving a hydrocarbon feedstock fuel (e.g., methane, vaporized methanol, natural gas, vaporized diesel, etc.) and steam at a reaction zone and reacting the hydrocarbon feedstock fuel and steam in the presence of a catalyst to produce hydrogen gas. The hydrogen gas is selectively removed from the reaction zone while the reaction is occurring by selectively diffusing the hydrogen gas through a porous ceramic membrane. The selective removal of hydrogen changes the equilibrium of the reaction and increases the amount of hydrogen that is extracted from the hydrocarbon feedstock fuel.

A multiple adiabatic bed reforming apparatus and process are disclosed in which stage-wise combustion, in combination with multiple reforming chambers with catalyst, utilize co-flow and cross-flow under laminar flow conditions, to provide a reformer suitable for smaller production situations as well as large scale production. A passive stage by stage fuel distribution network suitable for low pressure fuel is incorporated and the resistances in successive fuel distribution lines control the amount of fuel delivered to each combustion stage.

The invention includes a systems and methods for producing a gaseous outflow stream comprising chemical products and thermal energy, where the method includes providing a first reactant stream comprising CO2 and a second reactant stream comprising a hydrocarbon reactant, providing a plasma reactor equipped with a source of microwave energy for forming a non-thermal plasma; mixing the first reactant stream and the second reactant stream to form a feedgas mixture; directing the feedgas mixture to encounter microwave energy in the plasma reactor, wherein the microwave energy energizes the feedgas mixture to form the non-thermal plasma, thereby producing thermal energy and transforming the feedgas mixture in the non-thermal plasma into a product mixture comprising the chemical products; and directing the product mixture and the thermal energy to exit the plasma reactor, thereby forming the gaseous outflow stream comprising the chemical products and the thermal energy.