Air Separations and Syngas Plant Group Presentation #1 – January 29, 2013

1. Air Separations and Syngas PlantGroup Presentation #1 – January 29, 2013 Team Echo Leader: Matt Levy Members: Wen Zhang, Clint Vericker, and Helena Bliss Mentor: Dennis O’Brien CHE 397 – Senior Design II University of Illinois at Chicago Department of Chemical Engineering

2. Agenda • Process Block Flow Diagram • Air Separation Processes • Syngas Production from Methane • Report outline plan for semester

3. Overall class block flow diagram

4. Process Block Flow Diagram 4

5. 3 Types of Air Separations • Membrane, Cryogenic, and Pressure Swing Adsorption • All 3 technologies cover a wide array of sizes, purity, cost and cost effectiveness • All 3 can be used to purify both N2 and O2 from compressed air • N2 and O2 gases are needed at least 90% by volume for NH3 production • O2 is also needed for Autothermal Reforming (ATR)

6. Membrane Separations • Membrane systems use differences in diffusion rates between N2 and O2 through the walls of specially designed materials • Driving force is the difference of each component on both sides of membrane • Low cost option limited in production purity and size

7. Pressure Swing Adsorption • Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) or Vacuum PSA • Generates N2 or O2 by passing compressed air through a sieve containing absorbent materials • Adsorption at high P and Desorption at low P • VPSA produce O2 on larger scale than PSA • Small to Medium size, Intermediate purity

8. Cryogenic Air Separation • Very low temperature distillation to separate and purify products • Can produce high purity N2, O2 and Ar gas or liquid • Medium to large scale plants • Most cost effective for large production at high purity

9. O2 Purity > 50% Membrane N2 Purity > 99% Pressure Swing Absorption 50% < O2Purity < 94% 99% < N2 Purity < 99.95 % Cryogenic High Volume or O2 Purity > 94% High Volume or N2 Purity > 99.95 % * Red Mountain Energy

10. Syngas Production from Methane • Syngas and Hydrogen are necessary chemicals in the chemical, oil and gas, and energy industries. They are essential as feedstock and building blocks for many processes. • Syngas Plant feeds Fischer-Tropsch plant and Syngas to Gas/Liquids Plant 10

11. 3 Methods Of Syngas Production from Methane • Steam Reforming CH4 + H2O CO + 3H2 • Autothermal Reforming CH4+ 0.5 O2CO + 2H2 • Dry Reforming CH4+ CO2 2CO + 2H2 11

12. Side By Side Comparison Of All Methods 12

13. 13

14. Illustration of an ATR reactor *Aasberg-Petersen et al. Natural gas to synthesis gas e Catalysts and catalytic processes. Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering.

15. The ATR reactor consists of a burner, a combustion chamber and a catalyst bed. • Steam reforming and water gas shift reactions take place non-catalytically due to the high temperature. • The final conversion of methane takes place in the catalyst bed according to reactions (2) and (3). *Aasberg-Petersen et al. Natural gas to synthesis gas e Catalysts and catalytic processes. Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering. 15

16. Water Gas Shift • Syngas is passed through a fixed-bed, catalytic reactor to convert carbon monoxide (CO) and water into additional H2 and CO2 according to the reaction (3). • The shift reaction will operate with a variety of catalysts in order to alter the H2 to CO ratio of the syngas

17. Report Outline • Design basis • Block Flow Diagram • Process Flow Diagram • Material & Energy Balances • Calculations • Annotated Equipment List • Economic Evaluation • Utilities • Conceptual Control Scheme • General Arrangement – Major Equipment Layout • Distribution and End-use issues review • Constraints Review • Applicable Standards • Project Communications File • Information Sources and References 17

18. Questions?