Dry Reforming of Methane

CH₄ and CO₂ are both greenhouse gases, which can be converted to CO rich syngas via dry reforming. Sources of methane can be renewable, e.g. derived from ruminant digestion and manure management associated with domestic livestock, waste or biomass. In addition other sources like fossil resources, e.g. natural gas or coal can be applied.

Compared to syngas production via steam methane reforming, dry reforming can be operated at low or even negative carbon footprint, since significant volumes of CO₂ are consumed in the process. Since fossil and renewable feedstocks can be used, dry reforming might play an important role in the transition of the chemical industry. The produced CO rich synthesis gas can be used in established syngas conversion processes like methanol production, dimethyl ether (DME) or acetic acid synthesis. Due to the low H₂:CO ratio it might be necessary to increase the H₂/CO ratio in a subsequent process step or to add renewable H₂ to the product stream. 

First, dry reforming of methane is still at an early stage compared to well-applied syngas generation technologies like steam reforming of methane, auto thermal reforming, or partial oxidation of methane. The supply of sustainable feed might be decentralized where fossil derived feed will be converted in industrial scale. Therefore, cost-efficient processes in small as well big scale need to be developed.
The supplied CH₄ and CO₂ will come from manifold sources with a manifold range of impurities. This requires gas separation and purification techniques, or a new generation of catalysts with sufficient activity, selectivity, and stability. So far, the catalyst development is still at the beginning. The challenges are mainly connected to catalyst deactivation by coking since dry reforming is done in the absence of water, known for inhibition of coke formation. 

hte has already supported BASF and Linde in development of their DRYREF™ process and SYNSPIRE™ catalysts. We support our customers in catalyst development as well as process and tech service support of dry reforming demonstration plants as well as competitive catalyst testing and quality control. Stability studies of the catalyst and testing under industrially relevant conditions can be carried out. Further, we can provide you expertise in synthesis gas conversion chemistry (Fischer-Tropsch, methanol, DME, higher alcohols) to help you finding the optimum.