Membrane reactors—a new technology for production of synthesis gas by steam reforming

Abstract

There is a growing interest in using membrane reactors for steam reforming of natural gas where an inorganic membrane selectively removes hydrogen from the catalytic reaction zone enhancing the equilibrium towards the products. The aim of this work was to find out whether this technology has any technical and economic potential compared to conventional synthesis gas technologies. The economic analysis showed that membrane steam reformers can be favourably applied for hydrogen production. The investments can be reduced by 10–20% or even more and the natural gas consumption by 5–10% compared to a conventional process. For production of synthesis gas applied for the methanol synthesis, it was found that MSR processes cannot compete economically with proven synthesis gas processes.