Conversion of hydrocarbon fuels to syngas in a short contact time catalytic reactor

Some results of the theoretical and experimental research on the oxidative production of syngas from hydrocarbon fuels in catalytic reactors which operate at high temperatures and short contact times are presented. Pilot scale tests of the partial oxidation of methane, isooctane and gasoline have been carried out in nearly adiabatic conditions on structured catalysts developed at the Boreskov Institute of Catalysis and characterized by a low (<= 0.5 wt./wt.%) content of noble metals. High yield of syngas and stable performance of the catalysts were revealed in the experiments. The details of interaction between chemical and physical processes inside adiabatic monolith reactor have been elucidated by mathematical modeling of the partial oxidation reaction on the base of catalyst detailed chemistry. The problems that emerged from the short contact time reactor operating on a pilot scale are also discussed. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.