Open proposal on fuels reforming
August
2007 Our company develops various plasma-assisted
processes. Since 2001 we are designing, fabricating, and testing various
plasma reformers of carbonaceous matter into the syngas (a mixture containing
H2+CO) or a fuel gas (syngas + light hydrocarbons) for diverse
purposes. ECP has manufactured pilot reactors of 0.6, 1.6,and 6-L; a 50-L
reformer is under construction. Long runs were performed in several
countries. In Utah we successfully fed a Solid Oxide Fuel Cell with a
reformate generated from a high Sulfur fuel. In Tennessee, we have supplied 1 kg/h of Hydrogen produced from
the Soybean biodiesel to a catalytic
deNOx process that successfully abated almost all NOx exhaust from
a 4 MW engine. In Colorado we showed that the fuel gas produced at quite
large scale from the soybean oil or biodiesel can directly feed a spark
engine… Every year we are progressing by improving our
reactors, by reforming new matter, and by increasing simplicity as well
efficiency of our technology. Every year we show our progress during symposia. Based on accumulated know-how we are
constructing various prototypes for liquid or gaseous matter conversion into
syngas or fuel gas. The prototypes can be described as follows: i)
Plasma processor based on GlidArc-I
principle, including new post-plasma catalytic zone (patent application). ii)
Plasma processor based on new
GlidArc-III principle (patent). iii)
Heat and steam integration. iv)
Robust vessel and other parts allowing higher-pressure
applications. v)
Control of temperature, pressure, air (or an
enriched air) and feed flow-rate, as well as the syngas/FuelGas composition. These prototypes allow us to collect data to design
the best reforming scenario of a given feed and for a given application of
our future partners. Presently we are particularly seeking for Partner(s)
and/or Investors(s) interested in reforming of waste
bunker oils and/or molasses… ******************** Open proposal on
Fischer-Tropsch reactors,
catalysts, and Gas-to-Liquids (GTL) route
August
2007 ECP has many years of experience in the FT conversion of CO + H2 mixture
(SynGas) into liquid fuels. Moreover, we have significant experience on
fixed-bed FT reactors such as: a) Industrial tubular units using Cobalt catalysts in Oświęcim
(Auschwitz), Poland and in Novocherkassk, Russia, b) Small laboratory FT setups in Moscow and Orleans (atmospheric and then
in pressurized reactors, the both with various Cobalt catalysts), c) Large laboratory FT setup in ECP (5-m high, 1-inch diameter, 20 bar steel with a Cobalt
catalyst). We
concluded that huge multi-tubular steam-cooled FT reactors (since 1935) are
not adapted for some specific GTL
applications, especially at a small or medium scale. As result ECP has
invented a sandwich-type compact multiple plate FT
reactor. In parallel, we have also developed our GlidArc-assisted reformers of various fossil and renewable liquids and gases into SynGas. We are now able to totally reform:
Natural gas of any composition (including
H2S), Biogas (even at high CO2 content),
BioMethane, LPG, waste
flared gases, crude
"producer gas" from biomass pyrolysis or gasification, various
vegetable oils (including waste), waste alcohols, waste liquids from coke
production, liquids or tars from biomass gasification or pyrolysis,
molasses, glycerol from biodiesel production, waste bunker oils … We have reached a scale of 22 m3(n)/h
of continuous output of pure Syngas. Once compressed, this real SynGas is
used for feeding our FT reactors installed in our facility: o
One-tube (14/12 mm) 0.25-L reactor, o
One tube (20/18 mm) 0.65-L reactor, o
Two-plates and eight-tubes (20/18 mm) 5.5-L reactor, o
One tube (60/52 mm) 6.4-L reactor. FT synthesis temperature (can reach 400°C) is
controlled as well as the output pressure (up to 40 bar) and the input
SynGas flow-rate. The entering SynGas and gas products leaving the FT units
are on-line analyzed using our gas chromatographs. Liquid products are
collected at 0°C for further analyses. Our
reactors have a test capacity up to 1 kg/h of FT fuel simulating typical
industrial conditions… Iron-based FT catalysts are advantageously
adapted to these FT reactors. Such catalysts accept various SynGas mixtures
at much wider H2/CO molar ratios than the Cobalt-based fragile
catalysts. We are preparing and testing our own catalysts. Our real SynGas
generated from various fossil and renewable feeds via ECP's reformers
is used for three successive operations: catalyst precursor reduction, its
activation/accommodation, and final continuous FT synthesis (several weeks).
All these operations take place in the same FT reactors. ECP believes our GTL system
will be superior because of its compact packaging. For example, it can be
built on barges for offshore plants or at very remote area. We strongly
believe that ECP's GTL technology will be simple and "low cost". We hope our FT-related
Syngas generators, high-pressure SynGas transfer equipment, and prototypes of
FT reactors may be used for designing a specific test setup at as close as
possible final Biomass-to-Liquids conditions. We are also ready to perform
long tests of other FT reactors and catalysts on request… |
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_________________________________________________________________________ Contact us: echph@wanadoo.fr |
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