JPS58219945A - Catalyst for reforming hydrocarbon - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To uniformly heat a catalyst in reduced energy within a short time, in reforming hydrocarbon by using a catalyst, by heating a catalyst formed from a porous inorg. heat resistant material by heaters provided in the orifices of said catalyst. CONSTITUTION:Hydrocarbon is mixed with water or air to be reformed to an inorg. gas based on hydrogen and carbon dioxide by a reforming catalyst. In this case, as a catalyst to be used, one obtained by supporting a metal such as Ni, Co, Fe or a platinum group metal by a catalyst carrier 12 formed by molding an inorg. heat resistant material into a cylindrical form comprising a multilayered thin wall having a grid like cross area is used. Wire like electric heaters 14 are inserted into plural orifices of this catalyst. In generating hydrocarbon reforming reaction, because a current is supplied to said heaters to directly heat the catalyst, said catalyst is uniformly heated to a reforming reaction initiating temp. without irregularity in reduced electric power within a short time.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention provides a catalyst for a relatively small hydrocarbon reformer that mixes hydrocarbons with water or air and uses a reforming catalyst to reform them into inorganic gases mainly consisting of hydrogen and carbon dioxide. This applies to That is, in order to start the reforming reaction, it is necessary to preheat the catalyst to the reaction activation temperature,
The present invention provides a method for initial preheating of a reforming catalyst.

'Conventionally, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, the conventional heating methods for this type of catalyst body include heating the catalyst body 16 from around it using a heater 16 (Figure 3), and heating the fuel air flow to the catalyst activation temperature in advance. There is a heating method (Fig. 4), but each method has considerable drawbacks.

That is, the method of heating from the outer periphery relies on heat conduction, so it takes a considerable amount of time to raise the entire catalyst body 16 to the activation temperature, and the temperature unevenness of the catalyst body 16 itself is large, making it difficult to achieve a uniform temperature distribution. (The temperature is high in places close to the heater 16, and low in places far away).

In particular, porous catalyst bodies have large voids and gaps, resulting in very poor heat conduction. For this reason, the catalyst body 16 cannot be heated to a uniform temperature. On the other hand, the method of preheating the fuel airflow also requires a separate large-capacity heating device 17, and the device itself must be large-sized.

The present invention eliminates the various drawbacks of the conventional methods as described above. By heating a single catalyst body, the heating time of the catalyst body can be greatly shortened, and uneven heating of the catalyst body can be eliminated. The purpose is to significantly reduce the energy required for heating.

In order to achieve this object, the present invention provides a heater in the pores of a porous catalyst body to heat the catalyst body from the inside. In this configuration, the heater in the pores of the catalyst body By supplying electricity, the catalyst itself can be easily heated, and by supplying a mixture of fuel and water or air thereto, the reforming reaction is started. Thereafter, the reaction is continued in a stable state.

Particularly in a partial oxidation reaction using air as a gasification agent, the heater is energized only during the initial stage of combustion, and once the reforming reaction begins to continue, there is no need to energize the heater.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, a reformer 1 is constituted by a double tube, and has a reforming catalyst body 3 inside an inner tube 2. As shown in FIG. Further, a fuel supply port 4 is provided at one end of the inner tube 2. On the other hand, a gas outlet 6 is provided at one end of the outer tube 5 of the double tube.

Further, a heat insulating material 7 is wrapped around the outer circumference of the outer tube 5.

On the other hand, the fuel supply port 4 is connected to the mixing pipe 8. The mixing pipe 8 has an air supply pipe 9 and a hydrocarbon supply pipe 10.

On the other hand, one end of the reformer 1 can be removed with a bolt 11. The catalyst body 3 includes a catalyst carrier 12 integrally molded into a cylindrical shape made of thin walls of layers shown in FIGS. 2A and 2H, which supports metals active in reforming reactions, such as nickel, cobalt, iron, and platinum group metals. The catalyst carrier 12
A wire-shaped electric heater 14 is passed through the hole 13.

Next, this effect will be described.

The wire-shaped electric heater 14 passed through the reforming catalyst body 3 is energized to heat the reforming catalyst body 3 to a predetermined temperature (600° C. to 900° C.). After reaching a predetermined temperature, air and hydrocarbons are supplied from the air supply pipe 9 and the hydrocarbon supply pipe 10, respectively. The supplied air and hydrocarbons are sufficiently mixed in the mixing pipe 8 and then supplied into the reformer 1 through the fuel supply port 4. Furthermore, the mixed air and hydrocarbons pass through the inner pipe 2 from the fuel supply port,
After being preheated before being supplied to the catalyst body 3, it comes into contact with the catalyst body 3 and undergoes a reforming reaction. As a result of the reaction, the inorganic gas mainly consisting of hydrogen and carbon dioxide passes through the outer tube 5 of the double tube and exchanges heat with the mixed gas of hydrocarbons and air passing through the inner tube 2. It is discharged from the discharge port 6 and used for each purpose. Furthermore, the heat insulating material 7 on the outside of the double-pipe outer tube 5 prevents heat dissipation and aims at effective use of heat. On the other hand, the catalyst body 3 that has deteriorated as a result of the reaction can be replaced with a new catalyst body 3 by removing the port 11 at one end of the reformer 1.

The reforming reaction continues due to the above-mentioned action, but in a partial oxidation reaction using only hydrocarbons and air as gasifying materials, the electric heater 14 in the catalyst body 3
Electricity is applied only during the initial stage of the reaction, after which the reaction can be continued by natural firing.

Next, the effects of using the hydrocarbon reforming catalyst according to the present invention are as follows.

(1) It takes only a short time to raise the catalyst to a predetermined activation temperature (60° to eoo°C).

(2) Since the catalyst itself is heated, excess energy consumption can be eliminated.

(3) The entire catalyst body can be heated uniformly, and temperature unevenness can be eliminated.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a hydrocarbon fuel reformer having a hydrocarbon reforming catalyst according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIGS. 2A and B are a front view and a sectional view of a catalyst body, and FIG. FIG. 4 is a sectional view showing a conventional example. Total...Catalyst body, 12...Catalyst carrier, 13
...hole, 14...electric heater. Name of agent: Patent attorney Toshio Nakao and 1 other person No. 1
Figure ↑ ・r″jX Figure 2

Claims (1)

[Claims] A hydrocarbon reforming catalyst comprising a porous catalyst body made of an inorganic heat-resistant material and a heater provided in the pores of the catalyst body.