Catalysts for synthesis gas production

Synthesis gas (syngas) is a gas mixture of hydrogen (H₂), carbon monoxide (CO), and often also carbon dioxide (CO₂). It has numerous industrial applications, particularly in the chemical industry, where it is used to produce basic chemicals such as methanol, ammonia, and synthetic fuels. These products form the basis for the production of plastics, fertilizers, and fuels. Syngas is also used in energy generation to produce electricity in gas-fired power plants. It plays a crucial role in steel production, especially in the reduction of iron ore to iron using low-CO₂ processes.

Syngas is primarily produced by steam reforming of natural gas. To protect the nickel catalysts used in the reforming process, the hydrodesulfurization catalyst HDMax® 200, in combination with the ZnO adsorbent ActiSorb® S2 for H₂S adsorption, is used to remove organic sulfur compounds from the natural gas feed. For olefin impurities in the natural gas feed, the catalyst HDMax® 300 is used, which additionally acts as a hydrodesulfurizer and hydrodenitrogenator (HDN).

The high-temperature shift (HTS) catalyst ShiftMax® 120 HCF is used to enrich the hydrogen in the synthesis gas. The hydrogen content can be further increased downstream by using the low-temperature shift (LTS) catalyst ShiftMax® 210. Depending on the CO content, a medium-temperature shift (MTS) catalyst ShiftMax® 300 may also be required in this stage. Residual CO in the H₂ stream after CO₂ removal can be removed with the methanation catalyst Meth® 134. The molecular sieve C&CS #597 is used for the combined removal of traces of CO₂ and H₂O during hydrogen purification.