Evaluation of natural gas based synthesis gas production technologies

A comparative study of nine synthesis gas technologies have been carried out. The basis was syngas feed to a 2500 MTPD methanol plant. Material and energy balances were calculated, investments and operational costs were estimated, and a comparison was made. The comparison indicates that autothermal reforming and combined reforming with prereformer are preferable among the proven technologies. Among emerging technologies GHR, KRES and CPO have an economic advantage. However, the margins are probably too small to be significant.