Q & A > Question Details
There are 2 hydrogen plants in our company, We use NG as feed(SMR Process) to produce high purity hydrogen. The raw hydrogen stream comes from steam reformer, after cooling down which is then sent to PSA to recover high purity hydrogen.
The problem is that we have a tube bend and the catalyst has last been changed in 2011, we don't need to run plant at full capacity as our need is not that much,
We are thinking of postponing the changing of catalyst for a year or so, but is it feasible??
What is the time when i should know that methane slippage is more now. Till how much percentage of methane slippage i can afford in plant which doesn't hamper CO Shift Catalyst and PSA Catalyst.
Also when i should know that its time for The Reformer catalyst to be change?
There are some comments from outsources about waiting for 6 months as we are getting purity and methane slippage is within limit.
Would you please advise on how much methane slippage is ok if maximum hydrogen production isn't concern but specific consumption should be low, which is the current scenario.
 
Answers
06/01/2017 A: Ralph Ragsdale, Ragsdale Refining Courses, ralph.ragsdale@att.net
I assume there is no methanator. The purity requirements of the hydrogen users should determine the maximum methane in the SMR product. Much depends on the hydrogen supply network, and to what extent, if any, the supply is cascaded and can be un-cascaded for a time.
06/01/2017 A: NS Murthy, Suez, murthy.ns.ext@suez.com
You may like to use the concept of "Approach to Equilibrium in Steam Reforming" process to evaluate residual safe life of your catalyst.