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Steam Hydrocarbon Reforming

With over 1 Billion cu.ft. per day of reformer capacity supplied in the last 5 years,
Selas Fluid is your Hydrogen Headquarters.

In the steam reforming process, a light hydrocarbon feedstock (such as natural gas, refinery
gas, LNG, or naphtha) is reacted with steam at elevated temperatures (typically 700° C to
900° C), and elevated pressures (15 to 31 bar) in nickel-based catalyst filled tubes to
produce a synthesis gas. This gas consists primarily of hydrogen and carbon monoxide, but
other gases such as carbon dioxide and nitrogen, as well as water vapor are also present.
The typical ratio of this gas exiting the reformer is approximately 50% hydrogen, 10% carbon
monoxide, with the balance being the other gases. Increasing the amount of steam used in
the reaction will increase the hydrocarbon conversion rate, but the economic cost of the
steam must be taken into account in the overall process. The typical steam to carbon ratio
falls in the range of 2.8 to 3.2 to 1. The primary reforming reaction is:

CH4 + H2O -> 3H2 + CO, which is highly endothermic.

To overcome the endothermic reaction, the

catalyst filled tubes are heated from the
combustion of fuels such as natural gas, plant
gas, and PSA purge gas. In the common top fired
reformer these fuels are burned in multiple low
NOx burners that are mounted in the arch
between adjacent rows of catalyst tubes, and fire
downward. The sensible heat from the hot
combustion gases is transferred from the outer
surface of the tubes to the reaction that is taking
place inside the tubes. With the top fired burner
arrangement, the highest heat fluxes occur at the
top of the catalyst tubes where there endothermic
reaction begins, and the flue gas flows co-current
with the reforming process. The hot synthesis gas
exits at the bottom of the catalyst tubes, and is
collected in a manifold that is below the reformer.
This gas is then passed through a process gas
boiler to generate steam. The combustion flue
gas also exits at the bottom of the reformer, and
passes through a waste heat recovery section
that preheats the feed and also generates steam.
The diagram at left depicts the top fired reformer,
showing the burners and catalyst tubes.

Related Links
Reformer Product Literature

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Steam Hydrocarbon Reformers - Technology

Selas Fluid's hydrogen reformer process design is performed by a proprietary incremental
kinetic model that was developed in-house, and refined with the data from over fifty years of
operating experience. This model predicts the reforming process for a variety of feed stocks,
and reformer configurations (such as top fired, wall fired, or floor fired). Our top fired design
combines both process and physical arrangement benefits to minimize the total cost of
ownership.

Advantages of the top fired design include:

Allowance for either modularized or stick-built construction to take advantage of the

relative differences in shop assembly vs. field construction costs.
Compact firebox with fewer burners relative to the number of tubes. The smaller
surface area per unit volume when compared with wall fired reformers minimizes heat
loss and reduces construction time.
Single operating level of burners allows easy access and simplified combustion
control.
Allowance for the use of horizontal or vertical heat recovery section to match plot
space requirements.
Maximum reforming efficiency by achieving the highest heat flux at the location of the
highest endothermic reaction (the upper one-third length of the catalyst tube).

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