Cost Efficient Process Designs through Autothermal Reforming

The Syncor™ Technology developed and industrialized by Haldor Topsoe early in this century has proven to be an amazing way to produce syngas for various petrochemical applications. The Syncor™ technology features autothermal reforming which enables very cost effective steam reforming at a steam-carbon ratio as low as 0.6. The technology was originally developed for GTL processes and it has proven to be extremely successful for that application. There are currently four Syncor™ reactors in operation each with a capacity corresponding to production of 17,000 bpd Fischer-Tropsch liquids. Subsequently - early in this decade, Haldor Topsoe launched a methanol process based on the Syncor™ Reactor and showed significant advantages of this process lay-out relative to the established processes which rely on traditional steam methane reforming technology. This lay-out is used both for methanol processes and gasoline processes which are based on the MTG route. One example of such a process is the Turkmengas 15,500 bpd TIGAS facility scheduled to come on-line early 2019. Recently, the Syncor™ technology was applied for a 35 MM SCFD CO production facility with co-production of Hydrogen which is also anticipated to be started up in 2019. The Syncor™ technology has an excellent cost scaling factor and hence has the potential to become the preferred technology for gas producers wherever there is a need for large scale production of both CO and Hydrogen. The presentation discusses some of the features of the Syncor™ technology and explains why the technology is so versatile for various petrochemical processes.