Manufacture of combustible gas

摘要

891,805. Making combustible gas. HUMPHREYS & GLASGOW Ltd. July 28, 1960 [Sept. 11, 1959], No. 31075/59. Class 55 (2). In a cyclic process of the kind comprising gas-making phases in which gas-making hydrocarbons (e.g. natural gas), and gasification medium, such as steam, are passed into a hot bed 2 of catalyst (of e.g. nickel), to produce combustible gas and heating phases in which heating gases comprising hot gaseous combustion products are passed through the bed 2 to heat it up, the heating phases being alternated with the gas-making phases, and in which sensible heat is recovered by heat storage material from gases leaving the bed 2 to subsequently preheat gases passing to the bed 2, the gaseous flow through the bed 2 is always in one and the same direction for heating phases whereas natural gas and steam are passed into the bed 2 from one direction for part of each gas-making phase and from the opposite direction for another part of it. In the example given, for the first part of each gas-making phase steam and natural gas are passed through inlets 6, 7 upwards into the heated bed 2, i.e. in the same direction as the gases when heating, both being unheated, or the steam and, if desired, the natural gas may be preheated by passing through the regenerator 4. During that part of the gas-making phases in which gas and steam are passed into the bed 2 in the opposite direction, the steam and, if desired, the gas is preheated by passage through inlet 9 into regenerator 3 before passing to the bed 2, and sensible heat is recovered from the combustible gas which leaves through a conduit 12 to pass into the regenerator 4, by passing through which during heating phases air from inlet 14 is preheated before mixing with gaseous combustion products from a chamber 5 to pass to the bed 2, sensible heat being recovered from the gases which leave by passing them through the regenerator 3, which may be additionally heated by burning further fuel at the top at this time.