Separation of gas mixtures

摘要

Hydrocarbon and steam are introduced into a reformer 102 to form a gas mixture including carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, water vapour and hydrogen. After removal of the water vapour, the gas mixture is passed to a pressure swing adsorption (PSA) plant 122 comprising first and second arrays 124 and 126 respectively of adsorber vessels. The gas mixture is separated in the plant 122 into a non-adsorbed hydrogen product, a carbon dioxide-enriched fraction, a part of which is recycled to the reformer 102, and a carbon monoxide-enriched fraction withdrawn from an intermediate location of the plant 122. The carbon monoxide-enriched fraction is separated in a further PSA plant 148 to produce a carbon monoxide product. The kind of PSA plant 122 may be used outside this process to separate gas mixtures containing three or more components.