CO2 REUSE IN PETROCHEMICAL FACILITIES

Phase I Final Report

Reporting Period:
January 15, 2010 to December 31, 2010

By

Jason P. Trembly, Brian S. Turk, Maruthi Pavani, Jon McCarty, Chris Boggs,
Aqil Jamal, and Raghubir P. Gupta

DOE Cooperative Agreement No. DE-FE0002147

Submitted by:

RTI International
P.O. 12194
Research Triangle Park, NC 27709-2194

April 2011
Disclaimer

This report was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the U.S. Government.
Neither the U.S. Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of its employees, makes any warranty,
express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or
usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would
not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or
service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its
endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the U.S. Government or any agency thereof. The views
and opinions of the authors expressed therein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the U.S.
Government or any agency thereof.
Acknowledgements

This project was sponsored by the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) of the U.S.
Department of Energy (DOE) under Contract No. DE-FE0002147. This financial assistance from
DOE/NETL is gratefully acknowledged. In addition, the major cost-sharing for this project was provided
by Kellogg, Brown and Root (KBR), Süd-Chemie (SCI), and RTI. Recognition of contributing
individuals from these organizations is provided below.
DOE/NETL: Elaine Everitt, Daniel Driscoll, and Daniel Cicero.
KBR: Hugh Brian and John Super.
Süd-Chemie: Troy Walsh, Tom Pusty, and Jeff Braden.
RTI: Engineering and Analytical Support: Gary Howe, Stephen Reynolds, and Wesley Yellin.
Technical Support: Ernie Johnson. Financial Support: Evan Picard. Administrative Support: Deanna
Penick.
Table of Contents

Section Page

Disclaimer ................................................................................................................................................. i

Acknowledgements .................................................................................................................................. ii

List of Tables .......................................................................................................................................... iv

List of Figures .......................................................................................................................................... v

Abstract .................................................................................................................................................. vii

Executive Summary ........................................................................................................................... ES-1

1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 1-1

2. Background ................................................................................................................................... 2-1

2.1 Theory ................................................................................................................................. 2-1
2.2 Competing Technologies .................................................................................................... 2-2
2.3 Preliminary TRM Process Economics ................................................................................ 2-4

3. Experimental Methods .................................................................................................................. 3-1

3.1 Catalyst Synthesis ............................................................................................................... 3-1
3.1.1 Co-precipitation Methods ...................................................................................... 3-1
3.1.2 Spray Drying .......................................................................................................... 3-1
3.2 Bench-Scale Testing............................................................................................................ 3-2

4. Results and Discussion ................................................................................................................. 4-1

4.1 Bench-Scale Fluidized-Bed Testing of Methanation Catalysts ........................................... 4-1
4.1.1 Commercial Methanation Catalyst Screening ........................................................ 4-1
4.1.2 RTI Catalyst Development Objectives................................................................... 4-2
4.1.3 Optimization of Cat-1 Synthesis Procedure ........................................................... 4-2
4.1.4 Cat-1 Preparation Scale-Up.................................................................................... 4-4
4.1.5 Cat-3 Development ................................................................................................ 4-6
4.1.6 Cat-3 Preparation Scale-Up.................................................................................... 4-6
4.2 Computational Fluid Dynamics Modeling .......................................................................... 4-8
4.3 Pilot-Scale Transport Reactor Testing of Methanation Catalysts ..................................... 4-10

5. Preliminary Engineering Package ................................................................................................. 5-1

5.1 Process Description ............................................................................................................. 5-1
5.1.1 Vessel and Equipment Descriptions....................................................................... 5-9

6. Preliminary Cost Estimation ......................................................................................................... 6-1

7. Conclusions and Recommendations ............................................................................................. 7-1

iii
List of Tables

Number Page
Table ‎2-1. Estimation of Availability of Hydrogen-Rich Fuel Gas for RTI’s TRM Process in
an Average Ethylene Plant ............................................................................................... 2-4
Table ‎2-2. Estimated Ethylene Process CO2 Footprint and Credit Revenue Generated for an
Average Ethylene Plant ................................................................................................... 2-4
Table ‎2-3. Net Heat Values of Reactants and Products for the Sabatier Process in an Average
Ethylene Plant .................................................................................................................. 2-5
Table ‎2-4. Potential Process Savings from Steam Generated by the Sabatier Process for an
Average Ethylene Plant ................................................................................................... 2-6
Table ‎2-5. Estimates of Capital and Production Costs ........................................................................ 2-7
Table ‎2-6. IRR for Different Projected CO2 Credits ........................................................................... 2-7
Table ‎3-1. Test Conditions and Gas Composition Used in Bench-Scale Tests of Methanation
Catalysts ........................................................................................................................... 3-2
Table ‎4-1. Commercial Methanation Catalyst Properties ................................................................... 4-2
Table ‎4-2. CFD Simulation Conditions and System Properties .......................................................... 4-9
Table ‎4-3. Pilot Plant Test Results .................................................................................................... 4-12
Table ‎4-4. Fresh and Spent Catalyst Properties of Scaled Cat-1 ...................................................... 4-14
Table ‎5-1. CO2 Reuse Pilot-Plant Process Material and Energy Balances (Streams 1-11) ................ 5-3
Table ‎5-2. CO2 Reuse Pilot-Plant Process Material and Energy Balances (Streams 12-22) .............. 5-4
Table ‎5-3. CO2 Reuse Pilot-Plant Process Material and Energy Balances (Streams 23-33) .............. 5-5
Table ‎5-4. CO2 Reuse Pilot-Plant Process Material and Energy Balances (Streams 34-44) .............. 5-6
Table ‎5-5. CO2 Reuse Pilot-Plant Process Material and Energy Balances (Streams 41-47) .............. 5-7
Table ‎5-6. Gas Properties of Streams 1 and 3 ..................................................................................... 5-8
Table ‎5-7. Properties of Reactor Off-Gas Stream 13 .......................................................................... 5-8
Table ‎5-8. Properties of Product SNG Stream 18 ............................................................................... 5-9
Table ‎6-1. Equipment List and Preliminary Cost for RTI’s CO2 Reuse Process ................................ 6-2

iv
List of Figures

Number Page
Figure ‎2-1. Schematic of RTI’s TRM process. ................................................................................... 2-1
Figure ‎2-2. Methanator reactor systems: (a) Lurgi SNG process and (b) ICI SNG process. .............. 2-3
Figure ‎2-3. Revenue based on price differential between product SNG and fuel gas for an
average ethylene plant producing 1,500 MMlb/yr of ethylene. ....................................... 2-5
Figure ‎2-4. Schematic of RTI’s TRM process integrated into an average 1,500-MMlb/yr
ethylene plant. .................................................................................................................. 2-7
Figure ‎3-1. RTI’s bench-scale, high-pressure catalyst testing system. ............................................... 3-2
Figure ‎4-1. CO2 methanation activity measured on reference commercial methanation
catalysts............................................................................................................................ 4-1
Figure ‎4-2. Methanation performance of Cat-1 synthesized by constant-pH and raised-pH
co-precipitation methods.................................................................................................. 4-2
Figure ‎4-3. XRD patterns of Cat-1 synthesized with NH4OH and Na2CO3. ....................................... 4-3
Figure ‎4-4. Effect of precipitating agent on CO2 methanation activity of Cat-1. ............................... 4-3
Figure ‎4-5. Effect of calcination temperature on Cat-1 methanation activity. .................................... 4-4
Figure ‎4-6. Methanation activity of Cat-1 over time. ......................................................................... 4-4
Figure ‎4-7. Performance comparison of commercial and laboratory-prepared Cat-1 catalysts
calcined at (a) 350 °C and (b) 400 °C. ............................................................................. 4-5
Figure ‎4-8. Effect of precipitating agent on methanation activity of Cat-3. ....................................... 4-6
Figure ‎4-9. Effect of calcination temperature on methanation activity of Cat-3 made with
Na2CO3. ............................................................................................................................ 4-6
Figure ‎4-10. Performance of commercial and laboratory-prepared Cat-3 catalysts at H2/CO2
ratio of 6:1. ................................................................................................................... 4-7
Figure ‎4-11. Performance comparison of RTI’s Cat-1 and Cat-3 catalysts with commercial
methanation catalysts at H2/CO2 ratio of 4:1. ............................................................... 4-7
Figure ‎4-12. CO2 concentration distribution in the transport reactor modeled. ................................ 4-10
Figure ‎4-13. Average CO2 concentration and conversion along the transport-reactor height. ......... 4-10
Figure ‎4-14. Average gas temperature along the transport reactor height. ....................................... 4-10
Figure ‎4-15. (a) Photo and (b) schematic of the FCC pilot plant system at KBR’s
Technology Center. .................................................................................................... 4-11
Figure ‎4-16. Riser differential pressures during circulation. ............................................................ 4-11
Figure ‎4-17. Riser temperature measured during methanation Trial 3. ............................................ 4-12
Figure ‎4-18. Comparison of catalyst temperatures exiting the riser, stripper, and regenerator. ....... 4-13

v
Figure ‎4-19. Cat-1 methanation performance in extended testing in KBR’s pilot FCC system
with (a) Gas A and (b) Gas B. .................................................................................... 4-14
Figure ‎5-1. Process flow diagram (PFD) of RTI’s CO2 reuse process. .............................................. 5-2

vi
Abstract

To address public concerns regarding the consequences of climate change from anthropogenic carbon
dioxide (CO2) emissions, the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory
(DOE/NETL) is actively funding a CO2 management program to develop technologies capable of
mitigating CO2 emissions from power plant and industrial facilities. Over the past decade, this program
has focused on reducing the costs of carbon capture and storage technologies. Recently, DOE/NETL
launched an alternative CO2 mitigation program focused on beneficial CO2 reuse to support the
development of technologies that mitigate emissions by converting CO2 into valuable chemicals and
fuels.

RTI, with DOE/NETL support, has been developing an innovative beneficial CO2 reuse process for
converting CO2 into substitute natural gas (SNG) by using by-product hydrogen (H2)-containing fuel gas
from petrochemical facilities. This process leveraged commercial reactor technology currently used in
fluid catalytic crackers in petroleum refining and a novel nickel (Ni)-based catalyst developed by RTI.
The goal was to generate an SNG product that meets the pipeline specifications for natural gas, making
the SNG product completely compatible with the existing natural gas infrastructure. RTI’s technology
development efforts focused on demonstrating the technical feasibility of this novel CO2 reuse process
and obtaining the necessary engineering information to design a pilot demonstration unit for converting
about 4 tons per day (tons/day) of CO2 into SNG at a suitable host site.

This final report describes the results of the Phase I catalyst and process development efforts. The
methanation activity of several commercial fixed-bed catalysts was evaluated under fluidized-bed
conditions in a bench-scale reactor to identify catalyst performance targets. RTI developed two fluidizable
Ni-based catalyst formulations (Cat-1 and Cat-3) that demonstrated equal or better performance than that
of commercial methanation catalysts. The Cat-1 and Cat-3 formulations were successfully scaled up using
commercial manufacturing equipment at the Süd-Chemie Inc. pilot-plant facility in Louisville, KY. Pilot
transport reactor testing with RTI’s Cat-1 formulation at Kellog Brown & Root’s Technology Center
demonstrated the ability of the process to achieve high single-pass CO2 conversion. Using information
acquired from bench- and pilot-scale testing, a basic engineering design package was prepared for a
4-ton/day CO2 pilot demonstration unit, including process and instrumentation diagrams, equipment list,
control philosophy, and preliminary cost estimate.

vii
Executive Summary

The objective of this project was the development of a novel transport reactor-based methanation
technology capable of converting carbon dioxide (CO2) into pipeline-quality substitute natural gas (SNG)
by using by-product hydrogen (H2)-containing fuel gas from petrochemical facilities. This process
represents an attractive means to use and reuse CO2 to produce SNG that can be used in the existing
natural-gas infrastructure. Information obtained during the research and evaluation phase of this project
clearly demonstrated that this process is both technically and economically feasible and warrants
development to a larger scale.

The process technology developed in this project leveraged commercial reactor designs currently
used in the petroleum refining industry (fluid catalytic crackers) and a novel, fluidizable nickel (Ni)-based
catalyst developed by RTI International (RTI) [1]. In this process, RTI’s catalyst was circulated through a
transport reactor where it came into contact with CO2 and H2 and catalyzed the conversion of these
reagents into pipeline-quality SNG. Integrating the transport reactor with a fluidizable Ni-based catalyst
represented an advancement over commercial methanation systems, which typically suffer from poor
thermal management and large size. During methanation of CO2 and H2, heat is released and, if not
properly controlled, can adversely affect catalyst performance. In RTI’s process, the transport reactor
design allowed for high throughput (because of high gas velocities) and significantly improved
temperature control. The catalyst acted as a heat sink for the exothermic methanation reaction and was
then circulated into a solids cooler, where indirect contact with cooling water removed the heat through
production of high-pressure steam. This approach limited the temperature rise across the reactor and
allowed for high single-pass CO2 conversion and a much smaller reactor footprint compared to that of
commercial methanation systems.

Development of RTI’s novel CO2 reuse process was based on a two-phase approach. Phase I
activities were focused on catalyst and process development activities, including optimization and
scale-up of RTI’s fluidizable Ni-based catalyst, evaluation testing in a pilot-plant transport reactor,
techno-economic analyses, and development of a basic engineering design (BED) package for potential
field demonstration in Phase II. Phase II activities would include the design, construction, and
demonstration of a pilot-scale transport reactor–based methanation system. The proposed pilot unit would
convert 4 tons per day (tons/day) of CO2 and provide the operational and engineering information needed
to validate the commercial viability of this technology.

In Phase I of this project, significant progress was made in developing a truly novel fluidizable
methanation catalyst. RTI relied heavily on our expertise gained from more than 20 years of catalysis
work on fluidized and transport reactor applications to develop new synthesis procedures for the Ni-based

1
RTI International is a trade name of Research Triangle Institute.

ES-1
 Executive Summary

methanation catalyst for this project. In addition, an existing bench-scale test unit was extensively used to
conduct benchmarking experiments of commercial fixed-bed catalysts. The benchmarking data were used
to develop performance targets for the fluidizable catalysts and help with optimization of catalyst
properties. Through a series of parametric evaluations, RTI optimized the synthesis procedures for two
fluidizable Ni catalyst formulations (Cat-1 and Cat-3) that possessed equal or better methanation activity
compared to that of commercial fixed-bed catalyst formulations. RTI’s catalysts have demonstrated up to
3.5 times greater methanation activity at 200 °C. Following bench-scale development, RTI and
Süd-Chemie, Inc. (SCI) worked together to produce a 100-lb batch each of the Cat-1 and Cat-3
formulations using commercial manufacturing equipment at SCI’s pilot-plant facility in Louisville, KY.
The methanation activity exhibited by the commercially prepared RTI Cat-1 catalyst was similar to that of
the laboratory-prepared material.

The commercially prepared Cat-1 catalyst was tested at KBR’s (formerly known as Kellogg Brown &
Root) transport reactor test facility in Houston, TX. In parallel, to further evaluate transport reactor
operation, a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) model was developed using the bench- and pilot-scale
data collected. The results from both pilot-scale transport reactor and CFD model demonstrated the ability
of the transport reactor to achieve high single-pass CO2 conversions, while limiting temperature rise to
45 °C. RTI used testing and modeling data to develop a BED package for a 4-ton/day CO2 pilot
demonstration unit. This comprehensive BED package included a process flow diagram, process and
instrumentation diagrams, plot plans, an interface diagram, an equipment list, control philosophy, and a
preliminary cost estimate. In addition, the techno-economic evaluation was further updated using pilot-
plant results. This updated analysis confirmed the economic advantages of RTI’s novel CO2 reuse process
over conventional methanation technologies for CO2 conversion.

ES-2
1. Introduction

Anthropogenic sources of carbon dioxide (CO2) have become a major public concern in recent years
due to the consequences of climate change from increasing atmospheric CO2 concentrations. The U.S.
government has recently begun to position itself to regulate CO2 emissions under the U.S. Clean Air Act
by declaring CO2 a danger to public welfare. In addition, President Barak Obama’s administration has
begun to develop a global climate change strategy to limit temperature rise to 2 °C by 2050. Carbon
capture and storage (CCS) technology represents a practical solution for controlling CO2 emissions;
therefore, the U.S. Department of Energy is actively funding projects for commercial deployment of CCS
technology in the near future. Alternatively, CO2 reuse technologies can also mitigate emissions by
converting CO2 into valuable chemicals and fuels rather than using geologic storage.

The key technical challenge associated with reuse technologies is the stability of CO2. As the most
fully oxidized form of carbon, CO2 has the lowest energy content and is extremely chemically stable.
Converting CO2 into more desirable chemicals and fuels therefore requires the addition of energy to the
CO2 molecule. The most desirable reactant for the conversion of CO2 into fuels and/or chemicals is H2.
The problem is that H2 must be produced from less energetic reactants that occur naturally, such as
methane and water. Because methane is carbon-based, its use for H2 production for CO2 reuse is not
practical. The cleavage of water to produce H2 does have more potential, provided the energy is not
derived from the oxidation of carbon fossil fuels. Energy sources that meet this requirement include
nuclear and renewable, primarily solar and wind.

Nuclear-based H2 production is commercially practical because it combines two industrially proven

technologies, nuclear power production and water electrolysis. However, because the U.S. has not built a
new nuclear power plant since 1977 and public support for nuclear technology is extremely low, large-
scale nuclear-based H2 will not be available in the near future (25-50 years). Although solar-based H2
production technology is based on renewable solar energy and enjoys strong public support, the costs
associated with making H2 with solar energy are currently not economical and will remain so for the near
term. Wind-based power production, which is more economical, has seen significant growth over recent
years, but its limited projected capacity through 2030 will be insufficient to make any appreciable impact
on CO2 emissions.

Another potential source of H2 is a chemical process that produces a primary product accompanied by
the generation of H2 as a secondary by-product. Because this process has a fixed CO2 footprint for a
specific production rate and produces multiple products beyond the primary product, the net CO2
footprint for each product is smaller. Under these circumstances, the use of the H2 by-product for CO2
reuse would result in a net reduction of CO2 emissions and CO2 footprint for the process.

1-1
 1. Introduction

One chemical process that fits this description is ethylene production. Ethylene is produced during
steam cracking of ethane, propane, and/or naphtha. Because this reactive process targets the removal of
H2 from the hydrocarbon molecules to create olefins, in particular ethylene, and aromatics, H2 and
methane are also produced as by-products. Because ethylene is a large-scale, commodity chemical with
net annual global demand of 140 million tons in 2010 and a U.S. production capacity representing 28% of
this total, a significant amount of H2 is available at ethylene plants in the U.S [2]. This H2 is separated
with methane to create a fuel-gas by-product. Some of this fuel gas is used to provide the heat required to
drive the endothermic cracking reactions and other process energy requirements. However, a significant
portion of the fuel gas is merely used for its heat content. Therefore, the H2 by-product produced at
ethylene plants represents a unique opportunity and starting point for implementing CO2 reuse
technologies in the near future.

2
K.R. Hall, Catal. Today, 106, 243 (2005).

1-2
2. Background

2.1 Theory
RTI has been working on the development of a reuse technology that converts CO2 into pipeline-
quality SNG by using H2 by-product from ethylene production facilities. The chemistry for this reuse
process is based on the Sabatier reaction shown in Equation 1:

CO2 + 4H2 = CH4 + 2H2O, ΔH = −165 kJ/mol [1]

RTI’s novel process, shown in Figure 2-1, uses a transport reactor methanator (TRM) equipped with a
solids cooler and an attrition-resistant nickel (Ni)-based catalyst. There are many advantages to using this
process approach. For instance, the process

■ Upgrades the fuel-gas mixture

available in ethylene plants to
pipeline-quality SNG
■ Intensifies process
configuration by using a
single reactor to achieve high
conversion and throughput
■ Effectively uses a transport
reactor to minimize process
footprint
■ Effectively controls reactor
temperature for the highly
exothermic reaction by using
the circulating solid catalyst
to absorb the heat and a solids
cooler to extract the heat from
the circulating solids Figure 2-1. Schematic of RTI’s TRM process.
■ Extracts the heat from the
exothermic reaction as high-
pressure, saturated steam
■ Minimizes additional processing of the feed and product streams

In the TRM process, the fuel gas and CO2 are introduced into the bottom of the transport reactor. The
flow of these gases entrains the solid catalyst through the transport reactor. The entrainment of the solids
by the reaction gas promotes excellent mixing of the catalyst and reactants, ensuring optimal mass and
heat transfer. Because of this excellent mass transfer, the catalyst rapidly catalyzes the Sabatier reaction,
resulting in the conversion of CO2 into SNG. In addition, the solid catalyst particles absorb the heat of the
reaction effectively, moderating the heat released by the exothermic reaction. At the top of the transport
reactor, the hot solid catalyst particles and gas products are separated by a cyclone. This cyclone feeds the

2-1
 2. Background

hot catalyst particles into a solids cooler, which is used to generate high-pressure, saturated steam. The
cooled catalyst particles are then returned to the bottom of the transport reactor and recycled back to the
riser for methanation of CO2.

Minimal additional processing of the product SNG gas would be required to meet natural-gas pipeline
specifications. These processing steps would most likely include cooling, separation of the water (H2O)
byproduct, and compression. Additional processing steps might include more filtration to remove fine
particulate matter and an additional treatment to adjust H2 and CO2 content of the SNG product to meet
pipeline specifications.

2.2 Competing Technologies

Conventional commercial methanation processes use fixed-bed reactors filled with a Ni-based
catalyst. The primary applications of these methanation systems are in ammonia (NH3) plants and for
SNG production from synthesis gas. In NH3 synthesis, catalysts are poisoned by carbon monoxide (CO)
and CO2, making the removal of CO and CO2 from the feed stream to the NH3 reactor imperative.
Methanation represents the final step in this removal process, effectively converting the typical 0.1–0.3
volume percent (vol%) of CO and CO2 into CH4, which acts as an inert in the NH3 reactor. Due to the
upstream processing, which includes water-gas-shift reactors and a CO2 separation process, the CO2
concentration is significantly higher than that of CO in the feed stream to the methanator. This fact
demonstrates that the commercial Ni-based methanation catalyst effectively converts not only CO but
also CO2 into CH4 and can perform this conversion in a gas mixture of CO and CO2.

Because of the very low CO and CO2 concentrations in the methanator feed in an NH3 plant, no
special reactor design features are required for temperature control resulting from the exothermic
methanation reaction. However, this is not the case for synthesis gas conversion into SNG, in which the
temperature rise across the reactor for every mole percent of carbon oxide species reacted is 50–74 °C for
CO and 40–60 °C for CO2. Two distinct processes are typically used to achieve temperature control for
methanation of synthesis gas (Figure 2-2). One process incorporates a large product recycle to control
methanator temperature; the other process uses interstage cooling with multiple methanation reactors in a
once-through process.

Examination of the process flow diagrams (PFDs) in Figure 2-2 shows that both conventional
approaches for temperature control require multiple reactors and heat exchangers. Both processes also use
an inert diluent to decrease the reactant concentrations, effectively lowering the per-pass conversion in the
reactor and providing an additional means of removing the reaction heat as sensible heat.

In our process, there is a single transport reactor and solids cooler. Thus, a significant amount of
equipment and operating complexity is removed compared to conventional methanation systems. The
circulating solid catalyst is used to remove reaction heat out of the reactor as sensible heat. This process
offers the following two distinct advantages:

2-2
 2. Background

■ Because reactor systems are fixed-volume

300°C
systems and solids are denser than gases, a)

more mass of solids can be moved through

a reactor system than gas. As a result, the
moving solids can remove significantly 450°C

more reaction heat as sensible heat in a Desulfurized

SNG
transport reactor. Syngas 260°C

■ For the same amount of reaction heat, the

temperature rise in the solids will be much
smaller because of its larger mass. This 315°C

significantly increases the amount of per-

pass conversion that can be accommodated
b) Steam
in the transport reactor while maintaining
reactor temperature below temperatures that 400°C 325°C 300°C
would result in catalyst sintering and/or
Desulfurized
weakening of the reactor vessels. This Syngas
SNG

means multiple reactors and diluents are not

730°C 590°C 430°C
necessary to limit per-pass conversion in a
transport reactor system. This effect can
also be used to operate the transport reactor
system within a narrower temperature
window and at lower temperatures that Figure 2-2. Methanator reactor systems: (a)
favor higher equilibrium conversion to Lurgi SNG process and (b) ICI
CH4. SNG process [3].

The final temperature control step in our

process is the use of the solids cooler to remove the sensible heat from the solids. Although heat transfer
coefficients between fluids and a solid wall in the typical heat exchanger are relatively low
[approximately 20 Btu/(h·ft2·°F) for gases and 35 Btu/(h·ft2·°F) for liquids], the fact that the catalysts
particles are small (approximately 80–100 microns [µm]) and fluidized significantly increases their heat
transfer coefficient. With these high heat-transfer coefficients, moving the sensible heat out of the
circulating solid catalyst should be relatively fast and effective. The solids cooler also ensures optimal
transfer of this heat to produce high-pressure steam by maintaining nucleate boiling conditions. Solids
coolers are currently used in commercial fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) units. These solids coolers are
used extensively to effectively remove additional heat generated during combustion of coke on the FCC
catalyst with O2-enriched air.

3
Twigg, M.V. (Editor). 1997. Catalyst Handbook (2nd edition). Manson Publishing.

2-3
 2. Background

2.3 Preliminary TRM Process Economics

Using publicly available information, an analysis of ethylene production in the United States was
completed [4,5,6]. Based on this analysis, the capacity of the average ethylene plant was 1,500 million
pounds per year (MMlb/yr) of ethylene. Furthermore, this analysis indicated that the H2, along with CH4,
was separated from the demethanizer as a H2-rich fuel gas by-product. Estimates of the heat required to
drive the endothermic cracking reactions and power the downstream separation equipment were used to
calculate the amount of fuel gas consumed within the ethylene plant. The residual fuel gas was assumed
to be excess. Table 2-1 summarizes these different estimates for ethylene plants using ethane, propane,
and naphtha feedstocks. The values in Table 2-1 show that a significant amount of excess H2-rich fuel gas
is available within ethylene plants, confirming that RTI’s technology for CO2 conversion could be applied
commercially at ethylene plants in the near future.

Table 2-1. Estimation of Availability of Hydrogen-Rich Fuel Gas for RTI’s TRM Process in an
a
Average Ethylene Plant
Annual Production
a
from an Average Ethylene Plant Fuel Gas
for Process
Fuel Gas Energy Residual Fuel Gas
b
Ethylene H2 CH4 Demands H2 CH4
Feedstock (MMlb/yr) (MMlb/yr) (MMlb/yr) (%) (MMlb/yr) (MMlb/yr)
Ethane 1,500 114 103 54.4 52 47
Propane 1,500 70 961 22.7 54 743
Naphtha 1,500 52 822 25.3 39 614
a
The average ethylene plant was assumed to produce 1,500 MMlbs/yr of ethylene.
b
The energy demands for RTI’s TRM process include endothermic reforming heat and energy demands of downstream
separations.

Using the estimated values from Table 2-2. Estimated Ethylene Process CO2 Footprint
and Credit Revenue Generated for an Average
Table 2-1 for excess H2-rich fuel gas Ethylene Plant
available in the average ethylene CO2 Potential Revenue from CO2 Credits
a
plant, an estimate of the net CO2 Footprint ($ million/average ethylene plant )
Reduction
reduction was calculated assuming the Feedstock [%] $20/ton CO2 $50/ton CO2
H2 in the available excess fuel gas Ethane 86.0 $2.9 $7.2
could be used to convert CO2 to SNG. Propane 50.7 $3.0 $7.4
Naphtha 62.5 $2.1 $5.4
This net CO2 reduction was then used a
Average ethylene plant size was assumed to be 1,500 MMlbs/yr of ethylene
to determine the potential reduction in produced.
CO2 footprint for the average ethylene
plant and the potential revenue resulting from CO2 credits based on two projected values for CO2 credits.
These estimates, provided in Table 2-2, show that the novel TRM process can substantially reduce the
plant CO2 footprint and generate significant revenue from CO2 credits.

4
R. Karimzadeh, H.R. Godini, M. Ghashghaee, Chem. Eng. Res. Des., 87, 36 (2009).
5
O. Uemaki, K.B. Mathur, Ind. Eng. Chem, 15, 504 (1976).
6
D. Williams, U.S. Patent 5,990,370, 1999.

2-4
 2. Background

Because the novel TRM process converts CO2 to an SNG product that meets natural-gas pipeline
specifications, this SNG represents a marketable product that commands a premium price. In contrast, the
value of the fuel gas is essentially limited to combustion for heat generation and commands a discounted
price compared to natural gas. To determine the net value generated by upgrading the fuel-gas product,
the information in Table 2-1 was used to calculate the heat values in Table 2-3 for the feed and product
streams. The Table 2-3 results were then used to estimate the net revenue generated by upgrading the fuel
gas to SNG. The two key assumptions made were that the value of the SNG product was $4 per million
British thermal units (MMBtu) and the CO2 feed had no associated cost. The results of this analysis for a
range of differential prices between the product SNG and fuel gas are presented in Figure 2-3.

Table 2-3. Net Heat Values of Reactants and Products for the Sabatier Process in an Average
a
Ethylene Plant
Available Fuel Gas Product
Heat Value Heat Value
H2 CH4 CO2 Feed of Feed Gases CH4 of Product Gas
Feedstock (MMlb) (MMlb) (MMlb) (Trillion Btu) (MMlb) (Trillion Btu)
Ethane 52 47 287 4.3 114 3.6
Propane 54 743 296 21.0 850 20.0
Naphtha 39 614 215 17.0 692 16.6
a
Average ethylene plant was assumed to produce 1,500 MMlbs/yr of ethylene.

90
Ethane Assumes no CO2 Cost
80 Propane

Naptha
70
Product Revenue [MM$]

60

50

40

30

20

10

0
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0
Cost Difference [$/MMBtu;$4/MMBtu for Product]

Figure 2-3. Revenue based on price differential between product SNG

and fuel gas for an average ethylene plant producing
1,500 MMlb/yr of ethylene.

As shown in Figure 2-3, if the price differential between the SNG product and fuel gas is large
enough, then the SNG product is more valuable than the fuel gas, and the TRM process will generate
revenue. The specific price differences for which the TRM process begins to generate revenue are $0.60,
$0.13, and $0.11 per MMBtu for ethane, propane, and naphtha feedstocks, respectively. Because the
fuel-gas streams are a mixture of CH4 and H2 and no existing infrastructure exists for distributing this
product to market, any consumer will demand the maximum possible price differential between fuel gas
and natural gas to compensate for the inconveniences of working with the fuel gas. Thus, the differential

2-5
 2. Background

price is anticipated to be larger than the break-even differential prices, ensuring that RTI’s TRM process
will generate revenue.

The SNG product has a lower energy content than the fuel gas because the exothermic Sabatier
reaction converts this energy into heat, which, in turn, is used to raise steam. Most ethylene plants have
already optimized generation and use of steam from the steam-cracking process to minimize energy
demands. Hence, some additional optimization effort is required to effectively use this additional steam.
A potential range of values for this
Table 2-4. Potential Process Savings from Steam
steam has been estimated. A lower value Generated by the Sabatier Process for an
a
was estimated by assuming that this Average Ethylene Plant
additional steam reduces the fuel costs b
Electricity
Steam Raised CH4 Savings Savings
required for steam generation. A higher Feedstock (MMlb) ($ in millions) ($ in millions)
value was estimated by assuming the Ethane 391 1.3 3.0
steam is used to generate electric power, Propane 403 1.3 3.1
reducing the purchase of electricity for Naphtha 293 1.0 2.3
a
Average ethylene plant was assumed to produce 1,500 MMlbs/yr of
running necessary process equipment. ethylene.
b
These estimated values are provided in Steam production costs were assumed to be $3.69 per 1,000 lbs.
c
Electrical cost was assumed to be $0.0654 per kilowatt hour.
Table 2-4 for the different feedstocks for
an average 1,500-MMlb/yr ethylene production plant.

A preliminary techno-economic feasibility study for converting fuel gas to SNG in the average
1,500-MMlb/yr ethylene plant using ethane as the main feedstock was completed. The PFD is shown in
Figure 2-4. From process material and energy balances calculated using an Aspen HYSYS model, this
process would produce 10 million standard cubic feet of gas per day (MMscf/day) of pipeline-quality
SNG and consume approximately 350 tons/day of CO2 based on the available fuel gas in the plant.

2-6
 2. Background

112 113
Compressed SNG
101
to PPL
Fuel Gas

111
301
CO2 201
102 BFW CWS
206
600# Steam
BFW Heater From Header
(E-102)
108 109 110 K.O. Drum Dehy. Unit
103 Feed-Effluent (V-101) Steam Turbine
(V-102)
Exchanger (KT-102)
204 104 (E-101) Trim Cooler
600# Steam (E-103) Product
To Plant Surface
From Header CWR Compressor
Condenser 207
302 (K-102)
114
Steam Turbine Condensate
107
(KT-101)

To Plant Surface Feed

Condenser Compressor
205 Cyclone 202
(K-101) 600# Sat. Steam
C-101 to Header
106
Catalyst/
Solids Major Process Streams
STREAM 101 102 103 104 105 107 113
Mixed Gas to Feed Gas to Product gas
Feed Gas to
Description Fuel Gas CO2 Feed F/E to F/E SNG to PPL
Reactor
Loop Compressor Exchanger Exchanger
203
Seal Mass Flow, lb/hr
105 CH4 5368.2 0.0 5368.2 5368.2 5368.2 17007.2 17007.2
Solids
Cooler H2 5933.2 0.0 5933.2 5933.2 5933.2 82.8 82.8
Transport (E-104) CO2 0.0 32762.6 32762.6 32762.6 32762.6 833.4 826.4
Methanator CO 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.2 0.2
Reactor H2 O 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 26139.9 3.5
(R-101)
Total Flow (lbmol/hr) 3277.7 744.4 4022.1 4022.1 4022.1 2571.1 1120.2
Total Flow (lb/hr) 11301.4 32762.6 44064.0 44064.0 44064.0 44063.6 17920.1
Catalyst/ Actual Gas Flow (acfm) 16664.9 3758.7 20427.6 1586.1 2147.5 1432.8 124.4
Solids Temperature (oF) 100.0 100.0 99.7 243.0 475.0 527.0 204.1
Pressure psia 19.7 19.7 19.7 319.7 314.7 309.7 1014.7
Loop
Vapor Frac 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0
Seal
Liquid Frac 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0
HHV (Btu/scf) 390.1 0.0 317.9 317.9 317.9 444.6 960.3

Figure 2-4. Schematic of RTI’s TRM process integrated into an average 1,500-MMlb/yr ethylene
plant.

The mass and energy balances

Table 2-5. Estimates of Capital and Production Costs
were used to calculate equipment
sizes and utility consumption. Table Item Cost
Reactor system $1,075,269
2-5 shows the total project (or EPC) Solids cooler $300,000
cost of the proposed facility built at an Feed effluent exchanger $284,256
Boiler feedwater heater $130,000
ethylene plant in the Gulf Coast Trim cooler $224,000
region of the United States. This H2O knockout drum $60,000
capital cost was based on factored Dehydration unit $400,000
Feed compressor and turbine package $7,873,937
estimates from previous cost data for Product compressor and turbine package $2,098,480
similar equipment. Whenever Total process equipment cost $12,445,941
Total field cost $31,114,853
necessary, the cost numbers were Subtotal professional services $8,923,740
adjusted to August 2009 U.S. dollars Subtotal owner’s cost $4,324,965
Total project (EPC) cost (±30%) $44,363,557
by using the appropriate Chemical
Engineering Index.

Based on a total project investment Table 2-6. IRR for Different Projected CO2 Credits
of $44.4 million, a cash flow analysis CO2 Credits

was performed, and the percentage of $0/ton $10/ton $20/ton $30/ton

Internal Rate of Return (IRR) was %IRR 14 17 19 22

calculated for different CO2 credit values. As shown in Table 2-6, the proposed process generated a return
on investment. At a projected CO2 credit value of ≥$20 per ton, the IRR was >19%. Hence, at CO2 credit

2-7
 2. Background

values that match current projections, the IRR becomes large enough that commercial investment in this
emerging process technology would be justified.

The net result of the preliminary techno-economic analysis is that our novel TRM process can offer
significant value to an ethylene plant. This value comes from

■ Net consumption of CO2 in a beneficial reuse process

■ Conversion of low-value fuel gas into premium-value SNG product
■ Generation of high-pressure steam, as demonstrated in Table 2-4

The technical and financial benefits indicate that ethylene production plants represent a promising
commercial application for the TRM technology. Actual commercial implementation of this process
technology will be driven by the financial benefits derived from the CO2 credits when CO2 legislation is
enacted.

2-8
3. Experimental Methods

3.1 Catalyst Synthesis

Using aqueous co-precipitation methods, RTI developed two fluidizable Ni-based catalyst
formulations for CO2 methanation. The first catalyst formulation, Cat-1, was composed of Ni supported
on a nickel aluminate (NiAl2O4). The second formulation, Cat-3, consisted of Ni supported on a
ceria (CeO2)–zirconia (ZrO2) mixed metal oxide. Both formulations were then processed as spray-dried
powders for use in a transport reactor (entrained-bed) system. As discussed in Section 2, the transport
reactor approach was chosen because it offers much better process heat management over fixed-bed
reactor systems in that it minimizes temperature rise across the methanation reactor, while extracting the
process heat of reaction in a solids cooler.

3.1.1 Co-precipitation Methods

The Cat-1 material was prepared by dissolving nickel nitrate and aluminum nitrate in deionized (DI)
water to form an acidic metal salt solution. Similarly, Cat-3 was prepared by mixing nickel nitrate,
zirconium oxynitrate hydrate, cerium nitrate, and DI water. Two co-precipitation methods — the constant
pH method and the raised pH method — were used to form a metal hydroxide product. In the constant pH
method, the metal salt solution and basic salt solution were added together simultaneously, while
maintaining the pH of the continuously stirred precipitating solution between 7.0 and 9.0, depending on
the choice of base. In the raised pH method, the pH of the precipitating slurry was increased from about
4.0 to 7.5 by slowly adding the basic salt solution to the acidic metal salt solution in a 5-L stirred vessel.
The preparations of Cat-1 and Cat-3 were investigated using several different precipitating bases, such as
ammonium hydroxide (NH4OH), ammonium carbonate [(NH4)2CO3], sodium hydroxide (NaOH), or
sodium carbonate (Na2CO3). The Cat-1 material was prepared using both co-precipitation methods, and
Cat-3 was prepared using only the constant pH method. While stirring, the co-precipitates were aged at
room temperature for 1 h before filtering. The filtered cake was washed with DI water until the pH of the
filtrate was neutral. The washed hydroxide cake was then prepared for spray drying (Section 3.1.2).

3.1.2 Spray Drying

In preparation for spray drying, the filtered and washed Cat-1 and Cat-3 catalyst cakes were mixed
with a specific volume of H2O to achieve a target solids concentration based on the percentage weight
loss of the cake material (i.e., loss on ignition). The resulting slurry pH was adjusted to 4.0–5.0 using
nitric acid for Cat-1 and 6.5 using acetic acid for Cat-3. When the necessary pH was achieved, the slurry
was spray-dried using a Niro Mobile Minor 2000 spray dryer. Prior to introducing the slurry, the
spray-dryer inlet and outlet temperatures were allowed to stabilize at 325 °C and 120 °C, respectively.
The spray-dried catalyst particles were collected, dried at 120 °C for 2 h, and calcined at 300–450 °C for
4 h in ambient air.

3-1
 3. Experimental Methods

3.2 Bench-Scale Testing

The bench-scale testing system used in the development of the fluidizable Ni-based methanation
catalysts is shown in Figure 3-1. The reactor consisted of a 2-in. inside-diameter (ID) quartz tube housed
in a vessel that could be pressurized at high temperatures. A bank of Brooks mass flow controllers
(MFCs) was used to supply the reactor with a methanation gas mixture. The reactive gas mixture was
preheated in a furnace upstream of the reactor and then passed downward through the annular space
between the quartz tube and the pressure vessel wall before flowing through a quartz frit distributor and
the fluidized catalyst bed. The gas exiting the reactor was cooled through a water-cooled condenser before
it was sampled and analyzed by gas chromatography. A data acquisition system connected to the reactor
test system was used to control experimental conditions and record data.

Figure 3-1. RTI’s bench-scale, high-pressure catalyst testing system.

For all catalysts examined in Phase I, the Table 3-1. Test Conditions and Gas Composition
same bench-scale methanation test conditions Used in Bench-Scale Tests of
and testing protocol were used. The test Methanation Catalysts
Test Conditions
conditions used are shown in Table 3-1. The
Temperature (°C) 200–350
catalyst bed consisted of 300 g of material Pressure (psig) 300
comprising 25 g of active catalyst and 275 g Fluidized bed 25 g catalyst / 275 g inert
of zinc oxide and zinc aluminate mixed oxide, Gas component Composition (vol%)
CO2 2.5
which were shown to be inactive for CO2 H2 15.0
methanation under the test conditions. The N2 82.5
Note: N2 = nitrogen; psig = pounds per square inch gauge.
total gas flow rate was 20 standard liters per
minute (SLPM), which corresponded to a nominal gas–catalyst contact time of ~4 s for the expanded bed
at 300 °C and 300 psig.

3-2
 3. Experimental Methods

To reduce the temperature rise of the exothermic methanation reaction in the bench-scale tests, a low
CO2 concentration of 2.5 vol% was used. Thermocouple probes located within the catalyst bed at 1, 3,
and 5 in. from the gas distribution frit typically showed ~5 °C rise across the bed. The H2/CO2 feed gas
ratio for the comparative methanation tests was 6.0 rather than the stoichiometric ratio of 4.0. This
avoided the problem of CO2 conversion kinetics becoming highly non-linear (as much as 5th order in
reactant concentration) as the already low levels of CO2 fell below 1 vol% and masking significant
differences in relative activity of the various catalysts. Using the feed gas ratio of 6.0 in bench-scale tests,
the maximum CO2 conversion observed for highly active catalysts was typically 95% to 98%,
corresponding to 0.12 to 0.05 vol% residual CO2 in the effluent gas, respectively, while H2 levels
approached 5 vol%. Tests with selected catalysts using stoichiometric gas ratios (3.0 vol% CO2 and 12.0
vol% H2) showed similar conversion rates at low temperature, but, as the CO2 conversion increased
beyond 50%, these rates slowed appreciably. An investigation of the detailed reaction kinetics for CO2
methanation approaching equilibrium values with near stoichiometric feed ratios was beyond the scope of
this Phase I project, but it will need to be performed as part of the continued development of the TRM
process.

3-3
4. Results and Discussion

4.1 Bench-Scale Fluidized-Bed Testing of Methanation

Catalysts
4.1.1 Commercial Methanation Catalyst Screening
To establish performance targets for fluidized-catalyst development, initial bench-scale testing was
conducted with commercial methanation catalysts as reference materials. Because a key innovation of
RTI’s novel CO2 reuse process is the use of a transport reactor and all commercial methanation catalysts
are in the form of tablets or extruded pellets, it was necessary in this project to process these materials to
give them better fluidization characteristics for the transport reactor process.

Five commercial Ni-based methanation catalysts, identified as Com-A, Com-B, Com-C, Com-D, and
Com-E, were obtained, crushed, and sieved to particle sizes ranging from 75 to 120 μm and evaluated in
RTI’s bench-scale reactor system (Figure 3-1). The standard catalyst activation procedure for these
fluidized tests was reduction at 350 °C under
H2 partial pressure of 38 psia. The 100

experimental process conditions summarized

previously in Table 3-1 were used in these 75

bench-scale studies. The CO2 methanation

CO2 Conversion [%]

performance of these fluidized commercial

50
catalyst samples are shown in Figure 4-1. The
commercial methanation catalysts
demonstrated high activity and nearly 100% 25 Com-A Com-B

selectivity for CH4. Most of these reference Com-C Com-D

Com-E
catalysts became active, showing significant 0

conversion of CO2, at temperatures between 175 200 225 250 275 300 325 350 375 400
Temperature [°C]
175 and 250 °C. The more active commercial
Figure 4-1. CO2 methanation activity measured on
catalysts set very high performance targets
reference commercial methanation
for the development of RTI’s fluidizable catalysts.
catalysts.

The attrition resistance of these processed commercial catalysts was measured using a modified
Davison jet-cup method in which a 5-g catalyst powder sample was entrained, collected, and recirculated
in an air jet that impinged onto a thimble for 30 min. The attrition index and other properties of the
crushed commercial methanation catalysts are presented in Table 4-1. Attrition resistance is an important
selection criterion for fluidizable catalysts because it ensures that sufficient catalyst remains in the pilot-
plant reactor to complete testing and provide sufficient data for process development.

4-1
 4. Results and Discussion

Table 4-1. Commercial Methanation Catalyst Properties

3 a
Catalyst Commercial Form Powder Density (g/cm ) Davison Index
Com-A Pellet 1.2 40.7
Com-B Pellet 1.4 12.3
Com-C Pellet 0.8 25.0
Com-D Extrudate 0.8 —
Com-E Pellet 1.3 31.0
3
Note: g/cm = grams per cubic centimeter; NiO = nickel oxide, wt% = weight percent.
a
Standard FCC attrition test (Davison Index) target = 9.

4.1.2 RTI Catalyst Development Objectives

As shown in the high-pressure, bench fluidized-bed tests, many of the commercial catalysts possessed
excellent methanation activity and selectivity. However, because these materials have been developed for
fixed-bed applications, they exhibited high rates of attrition (Table 4-1) and are thus not suitable for long-
term fluidized transport operation. The success of the novel CO2 reuse process is dependent upon the
development of a fluidizable Ni-based methanation catalyst that possesses both adequately high activity
for meeting product gas specifications and sufficient strength for economically long life. Research and
development activities in Phase I of the project were therefore focused on developing and optimizing two
Ni-based catalyst formulations designed for fluidized applications.

4.1.3 Optimization of Cat-1 Synthesis Procedure

As stated in Section 3.1.1, two co-precipitation methods — the constant pH method and the raised pH
method — were evaluated for the synthesis of Cat-1. The mixed-metal hydroxide precipitates formed
from these techniques were then filtered,
100
spray-dried, and calcined to produce a final Precipitation
Constant pH
Co-Precipitation
Raised pH
particulate product for testing. Figure 4-2
75
presents the methanation performance of
CO2 Conversion [%]

the Cat-1 catalysts made by the two

50

synthesis routes. Both materials

demonstrated reasonable methanation
25

activity relative to the commercial

materials with 100% CH4 selectivity.
0

Furthermore, because catalyst performance 175 200 225 250 275 300
Temperature [ C]
325 350 375 400

was not significantly impacted by the

Figure 4-2. Methanation performance of Cat-1
synthesis methodology, the raised-pH synthesized by constant-pH and raised-pH
co-precipitation method was selected for co-precipitation methods. Both materials
were spray-dried and calcined at 450 °C.
further development because it provided an
easier scale-up path. The parametric testing discussed below was used to systematically improve the
catalytic performance and strength of Cat-1.

4-2
 4. Results and Discussion

Precipitating Agent. To determine the effect of precipitating agents on catalyst properties, Cat-1 was
prepared using two different precipitating agents, Na2CO3 and NH4OH. As indicated by X-ray diffraction
(XRD) and surface area analyses, the structural
properties of the catalyst were not significantly
affected by the choice of precipitating agent.
(Total specific surface area was determined
using the Brunauer, Emmett, and Teller [BET]
equation.) The XRD patterns of Cat-1 prepared
with NH4OH and Na2CO3, were NH4OH

indistinguishable, as shown in Figure 4-3. The

Na2CO3

catalyst prepared with Na2CO3, though, had

modestly higher BET surface area (260 m2/g) 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70
2θ
than the material prepared with NH4OH
(227 m2/g). Figure 4-3. XRD patterns of Cat-1 synthesized with
NH4OH and Na2CO3.
The catalytic activity of Cat-1 materials,
100
however, was significantly impacted by the NH4OH

Na2CO3
choice of precipitating agent, given identical
catalyst drying, calcining, and reducing 75

conditions. The fluidized test results in Figure

CO2 Conversion [%]

4-4 show that the Cat-1 material prepared with 50

Na2CO3 had much lower catalytic activity than

the material prepared with NH4OH. The lower
25
activity of Cat-1 made with Na2CO3 is
attributed to residual traces of sodium, which
0
has a detrimental effect on the grain size and 175 200 225 250 275 300 325 350 375 400
Temperature [ C]
surface area of exposed metal following
reduction of this Cat-1 formulation. Figure 4-4. Effect of precipitating agent on CO2
methanation activity of Cat-1.
In industrial catalyst manufacturing
processes, Na2CO3 is the preferred precipitating agent because the gas-phase decomposition products
during calcination are benign and do not require any further treatment. For subsequent Cat-1 syntheses in
this Phase I project, NH4OH was selected as the precipitating agent because this agent uses slightly
different precipitation chemistry, limiting the sodium concentration in the final product.

4-3
 4. Results and Discussion

Calcination Temperature. Green

100
(spray-dried) particulates of Cat-1 were 350 C
400 C
calcined at a temperature ranging from 350 450 C
75
to 450 °C. The Cat-1 catalytic activity, as

CO2 Conversion [%]

measured by CO2 conversion in Figure 4-5,
increased significantly with decreasing 50

calcination temperature. All Cat-1 samples

showed nearly 100% CH4 selectivity over 25

the temperature range from 200 to 350 °C.

Lower calcination temperatures also 0
175 200 225 250 275 300 325 350 375 400
resulted in more methanation activity at Temperature [ C]

200 °C, as seen in Figure 4-5.

Figure 4-5. Effect of calcination temperature on Cat-1
methanation activity.
Aging Study. To evaluate Cat-1
performance stability, a 550-h aging study
100
was completed using a fixed bed with a 1:10 250 C
350 C
mass mixture of catalyst to α-alumina. The
95
temperature and space velocity (SV) ranges
CO2 Conversion [%]

SV = 9000hr SV = 15000hr -1 -1

investigated were 250-350 °C and 9,000-

15,000 h-1, respectively. Results of the aging 90

study are shown in Figure 4-6. At 250 °C and

9,000 h-1, Cat-1 demonstrated almost 100% 85

CO2 conversion. To accelerate the aging

process, the temperature was increased to 80
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400 450 500 550
350 °C. At this higher temperature, Cat-1 Time [hr]

showed stable activity for more than 150 h, Figure 4-6. Methanation activity of Cat-1 over time.
indicating that the catalyst is resistant to
thermal sintering. To further accelerate catalyst aging, the space velocity was increased to 15,000 h-1.
Though CO2 conversion at this higher space velocity decreased as expected, stable catalyst performance
was observed under these conditions for an additional 200 h, demonstrating that the Cat-1 formulation
possesses excellent thermal stability. Analysis of gas and condensed products by GC and GC-MS,
respectively, also showed essentially 100% selectivity toward methane with no traces of organic
compounds in the condensed water.

4.1.4 Cat-1 Preparation Scale-Up

Cat-1 was selected to be produced in scaled-up amounts for testing in the pilot-plant reactor system
after demonstrating excellent performance stability during extended bench-scale tests. A scaled Cat-1
synthesis procedure, based on the optimization results, was transmitted to Süd-Chemie, Inc. (SCI) for the
manufacture of a 100-lb batch of this material in its pilot-plant facility in Louisville, KY. SCI

4-4
 4. Results and Discussion

manufactured the pilot batch of Cat-1 material using the co-precipitation method with NH4OH as the
precipitating agent. The resulting slurry was spray-dried using a commercial spray dryer.

Before calcining the scaled Cat-1 batch, a sample of the green particulate product (post-spray drying
but prior to calcination) was sent to RTI for evaluation. After calcination at 350 and 400 °C, the activity
of the green scaled material was evaluated in RTI’s bench-scale reactor. As shown in Figure 4-7, the
scaled Cat-1 material calcined at 350 °C had very similar performance to its laboratory counterpart over
the reaction temperature range investigated. However, the scaled material calcined at 400 °C showed
much lower performance than the laboratory version at reaction temperatures below 350 °C. This
unexplained result shows how preparation procedures, precipitation chemistry, spray-drying and
calcination conditions, and reduction interact to greatly influence the Cat-1 catalytic activity. More
importantly, though, these results show that the scaled synthesis procedure did successfully produce a
Cat-1 material having performance similar to that of the laboratory-prepared material. Based on these
results, the calcination temperature for the 100-lb batch of scaled Cat-1 was selected to be 350 °C.

100
SCI
RTI
90 96 96
90 95

80
73
(a)
70
CO2 Conversion [%]

59
60

50

40

30

20
11
10 8

0
380 330 275 200
Temperature [°C]

100
SCI
RTI
90
97 92
88
80
(b)
70
70

67
CO2 Conversion [%]

60

50

40

30

20
14
11
10

0
0
375 325 360 200
Temperature [°C]

Figure 4-7. Performance comparison of commercial and laboratory-prepared

Cat-1 catalysts calcined at (a) 350 °C and (b) 400 °C.

4-5
 4. Results and Discussion

4.1.5 Cat-3 Development

As part of the Phase I catalyst development effort, a second fluidizable, Ni-based catalyst
formulation, Cat-3, was also prepared. The Cat-3 formulation is a precipitated mixture of NiO, ZrO2, and
CeO2 with Ni:Zr:Ce molar ratio of 6:3:1. It was selected because of the oxidation and reduction
interactions of ZrO2 with catalytic materials, such as Ni, at low temperature to yield more active catalytic
sites and CeO2 to enhance reactions with CO2. The constant-pH preparation method was used to
synthesize Cat-3 because it was expected to yield a more uniform catalyst.

The parametric testing of Cat-3 evaluated the effects of calcination temperature and precipitating
agent on catalyst performance. The calcination temperature range explored was 400-550 °C, and NH4OH,
NaOH, and Na2CO3 were evaluated as precipitation agents. As observed previously for Cat-1, Figure 4-8
shows that the precipitating agent used significantly affected the Cat-3 catalytic performance. Using
Na2CO3 dramatically increased catalyst activity, while maintaining 100% CH4 selectivity. Although the
Cat-3 material precipitated with Na2CO3 was calcined at a lower temperature, it is noted that the
precipitating agent had a greater effect on material performance than the calcination temperature, as
determined from a calcination temperature study on the Cat-3 material made with Na2CO3. The effect of
calcination temperature on the Cat 3 methanation performance is plotted in Figure 4-9. Like Cat-1, Cat-3
exhibited improved methanation activity with decreasing calcination temperature. One significant
difference is that Cat-3 was more active than Cat-1 at higher calcination temperatures.

100 100
550 C

400 C

75 75
CO2 Conversion [%]

CO2 Conversion [%]

50 50

25 25

Na2CO3
NH4OH
NaOH
0 0
175 200 225 250 275 300 325 350 375 400 175 200 225 250 275 300 325 350 375 400
Temperature [ C] Temperature [ C]

Figure 4-8. Effect of precipitating agent on Figure 4-9. Effect of calcination temperature on
methanation activity of Cat-3. methanation activity of Cat-3 made
with Na2CO3.

4.1.6 Cat-3 Preparation Scale-Up

To evaluate scalability of the Cat-3 synthesis procedure, a scaled Cat-3 synthesis procedure, based on
the optimization results, was provided to SCI for the manufacture of a 100-lb batch of this material in
their pilot-plant facility. SCI manufactured the Cat-3 catalyst using Na2CO3 as the precipitating agent and
calcined it at 400 °C. The slurry was spray-dried using a commercial spray dryer.

4-6
 4. Results and Discussion

The catalytic performance of the commercially prepared Cat-3 catalyst is compared to that of the
corresponding laboratory-prepared material in Figure 4-10. At reaction temperatures below 350 °C, the
scaled Cat-3 material had much lower performance than the laboratory material. These results are similar
to the scaled Cat-1 results (Section 4.1.4), which also showed that 400 °C calcination yielded a lower-
performing catalyst.

100

75
RTI
CO2 Conversion [%]

SCI
50

25

0
200 225 250 275 300 325 350 375 400
Temperature [ C]

Figure 4-10. Performance of commercial and

laboratory-prepared Cat-3 catalysts at
H2/CO2 ratio of 6:1.

Testing with Stoichiometric Concentrations of CO2 and H2. To understand their equilibrium
methanation activity, RTI’s fluidizable, Ni-based Cat-1 and Cat-3 catalysts were evaluated using the
stoichiometric feed H2/CO2 ratio of 4:1. Except for this H2/CO2 ratio, all other reaction conditions were
the same as in previous tests. The results are
100
compared to the equilibrium methanation
performance of several best-performing
commercial methanation cataysts in Figure 4-11. 75
CO2 Conversion [%]

The performance activity of both fluidizable

Cat-1 and Cat-3 materials are seen to be 50

comparable or exceed that of the commercial Cat-3

(fixed-bed) methanation catalysts. Even at 25

Cat-1

Com-A
stoichiometric conditions, RTI’s Cat-3 showed Com-D

better methanation activity than the commercial 0

Com-E

materials, achieving more than 80% CO2 200 225 250 275 300 325
Temperature [ C]
350 375 400

conversion at temperatures below 300 °C. Based

Figure 4-11. Performance comparison of RTI’s
on these data, the Phase I catalyst development Cat-1 and Cat-3 catalysts with
work has resulted in the development of two commercial methanation catalysts
at H2/CO2 ratio of 4:1.
promising fluidizable, Ni-based catalyst
formulations, Cat-1 and Cat-3.

4-7
 4. Results and Discussion

4.2 Computational Fluid Dynamics Modeling

As a part of this Phase I project, preliminary CFD modeling was completed to understand the
hydrodynamics of the transport reactor system for the CO2 reuse reaction. The main objectives of the
CFD modeling effort were to estimate

 CO2 conversion profile across the reactor length

 Single-pass CO2 conversion that can be achieved in a riser reactor
 Ability to use solids-to-gas ratio to limit temperature rise across the riser to <400 °C

A preliminary two-dimensional CFD model of the riser was developed using Ansys Fluent®. The
model consisted of a vertical reactor of uniform cross-section with gas and solids entering at the reactor
bottom and the reaction products leaving from the top of the reactor. Table 4-2 gives the relevant reactor
dimensions, physical properties, and modeling conditions used in the CFD simulation. The gas flow and
composition were based on a 4-ton/day pilot unit design for Phase II of the project. Based on our
preliminary design calculations, the riser had a diameter of 2 in. and total height of 60 ft.

In the CFD simulations, the Sabatier reaction (CO2 + 4H2 = CH4 + 2H2O) was assumed to be the only
reaction occurring inside the riser. The surface reaction rate for this reaction was calculated using
Equations 2-4:

( ) [2]
( ⁄ )
mmol (g h kPa) [3]
( ⁄ )
kPa-0.5 [4]

where and are the partial pressures [kPa] of CO2 and H2, respectively, and is the reactor
temperature [K].

The catalyst distribution and CO2 concentration and conversion profiles obtained from the CFD
simulation are shown along the reactor height in Figure 4-12 and Figure 4-13. About 98% of the CO2 was
converted to methane in the first 3 meters (~10 ft.) of the reactor. The riser gas temperature profile shown
in Figure 4-14 indicates that the temperature increased by about 150 °C in the first 5 meters (~16 ft.) of
the riser. The most rapid temperature increase occurred between 2 and 3 meters (7 and 10 ft.), which also
corresponded to the region with the greatest CO2 conversion. The gas temperature continued to increase
for an additional 2 meters (7 ft.) because of heat transfer from the solid (where the reaction was
occurring) to the gas surrounding the particles. For comparison, the temperature rise in an adiabatic,
fixed-bed reactor would be 540 °C under these same modeling conditions. Thus, these CFD results
confirmed our hypothesis that the large thermal mass of solids circulating through the riser can effectively
control the temperature rise in the riser while achieving high single-pass conversion.

4-8
 4. Results and Discussion

The CFD modeling results also show that reactivity of the current catalyst was rapid enough to
achieve almost complete conversion in a very short residence time or in a small fraction of the total
reactor height. This presents opportunities for increasing gas throughput without reducing conversion,
reducing reactor size, and/or using potentially less active catalysts. In particular, the option of using less
active catalysts suggests that some catalyst chemical activity could be sacrificed for improved catalyst
attrition resistance.

Table 4-2. CFD Simulation Conditions and System Properties

Reactor Dimensions
Height 18.3 m (60 ft.)
Diameter 5.1 cm (2 in.)
Material Properties
Gas (mixture of CO2, H2, CH4, and H2O) Incompressible ideal gas
Thermal conductivity Mass-weighted average
Specific heat Mass-weighted average
Viscosity Mass-weighted average
Catalyst
Particle diameter 80 μm
Specific heat 940 J/(mol·K)
Thermal conductivity 130 W/(m·K)
Molecular weight 42.84
Operating Conditions
Pressure 21.7 bar (314.7 psi)
Temperature 250 °C
Superficial gas velocity 3.0 m/s (10 ft/s)
Solids/gas mass ratio 20:1
Feed gas composition (mole fraction)
CO2 0.1851
H2 0.7317
CH4 0.0832
Initial Conditions in Domain
Gas velocity 0
Catalyst velocity 0
Catalyst volume fraction 0
Composition of gas (mole fraction)
CO2 0.1851
H2 0.7317
CH4 0.0832
Boundary Conditions
Gas No slip
Catalyst Johnson Jackson BC
Mesh Size
No. of cells 60,000
-4
Convergence Criterion 10
Step Size 0.001 s

4-9
 4. Results and Discussion

0.10 100

0.09 90

CO2 Molar Concentration (kmol/m )

3
0.08 80
Concentration

CO2 Conversion (%)

0.07 Conversion 70

0.06 60

0.05 50

0.04 40

0.03 30

0.02 20

0.01 10

0.00 0
0 5 10 15
Height of the Reactor (m)

Figure 4-12. CO2 concentration Figure 4-13. Average CO2 concentration and
distribution in the transport conversion along the transport-
reactor modeled. reactor height.

410

390

370
Gas Temperature ( oC)

350

330

310

290

270

250
0 5 10 15
Height of the Reactor (m)

Figure 4-14. Average gas temperature along

the transport reactor height.

4.3 Pilot-Scale Transport Reactor Testing of Methanation

Catalysts
To test the efficacy of using a fluidizable Ni-based methanation catalyst in a transport reactor, the
methanation performance of Cat-1 was evaluated in a transport reactor system. Specifically, the scaled
100-lb. batch of Cat-1 manufactured by SCI in their pilot-plant production facility was evaluated in the
FCC reactor test unit at KBR’s Technology Center in Houston, TX. The testing objectives were to
demonstrate the catalytic activity of Cat-1 and the ability to achieve high single-pass conversion and
temperature control using the circulating solids in the reactor.

4-10
 4. Results and Discussion

KBR’s FCC reactor system, shown in Figure 4-15, consists of a single circulation loop composed of a
riser (80 ft. of 0.25-in.-dia. SCH 40 pipe), a high-efficiency cyclone, a stripper, and a regenerator. A
1.5-gallon (5.67-L) charge of Cat-1 was loaded into the FCC regenerator and evaluated in this pilot
system at 200-300 °C, a system pressure of 35 psig, and a superficial gas velocity range of 10-20 ft/s
(3-9 m/s). During operation, the outlet H2, CO2, CH4, and N2 concentrations were measured every 15
minutes with a Varian 3300 gas chromatograph. The simulated fuel-gas composition used in parametric
testing consisted of 20 vol% CO2 and 80 vol% H2 and was chosen to evaluate the most stringent
methanation and thermal load cases possible.

CH4
(a) (b) N2
CO2
H2

TE DPT
Cyclone
251 250L

Stripper

TE DPT DPT
241 230L 250H N2

TE
320

Regenerator

TE DPT
221 230H
N2
Air
H2

TE
428

N2
CO2
H2

Figure 4-15. (a) Photo and (b) schematic of the FCC pilot plant system at KBR’s Technology
Center.

Figure 4-16 plots the measured

35

differential pressures across the riser [see DPT-230

DPT-250
30
Figure 4-15(b) for locations of differential
taps] at a superficial gas velocity of 10 ft/s 25
Differrential Pressure [in WC]

(3 m/s) during initial attempts to circulate the 20

catalyst. The observed differential-pressure 15

fluctuations are typical of a transport reactor

10
system. The relatively narrow deviation of the
differential pressure around the average 5

reflects stable catalyst circulation with no 0

0 10 20 30 40 50
Time [min]
evidence of slugging.
Figure 4-16. Riser differential pressures during
circulation.

4-11
 4. Results and Discussion

Table 4-3 summarizes the Cat-1 testing results in KBR’s pilot FCC test unit. In all eleven trials
completed at the indicated test conditions, Cat-1 achieved high CO2 conversion in a single pass. Its
selectivity for methane was also very high, with the lowest methane selectivity being 99.4%. Because the
equilibrium CO2 conversion for the Sabatier reaction (CO2 + 4 H2 = CH4 + 2 H2O) at 200 and 300 °C is
99.3 and 96.9%, respectively, the performance test data show that Cat-1 was able to achieve near-
equilibrium CO2 conversion for gas residence times between 4 and 8 seconds.

Table 4-3. Pilot Plant Test Results

Riser Inlet Riser Gas Average CO2 CH4
Temperature Velocity Conversion Selectivity
Trial No. (°C) (ft/s) (%) (%)
1 300 10 95.0 99.8
2 300 15 95.1 99.5
3 300 20 94.6 99.7
4 300 10 94.9 99.7
5 275 10 94.3 99.8
6 275 20 93.9 99.5
7 200 10 93.4 99.7
8 200 15 93.2 99.8
9 200 20 92.5 99.4
10 250 10 94.2 99.7
11 250 20 93.7 99.6

Figure 4-17 shows the temperature rise seen across the riser during Trial 3. [The positions of the three
thermocouples in the riser are indicated in Figure 4-15(b).]. A rapid temperature rise of approximately
17 °C occurred when the fuel-gas mixture was introduced into the riser. The CO2 conversion during
Trial 3 was 95%. For comparison, the temperature rise for the same CO2 conversion in a fixed-bed reactor
would be approximately 450 °C. This result experimentally validates the CFD modeling data (Section
4.2) that indicated that the thermal mass of the circulating solids should provide an effective means of
controlling temperature rise.

320
TE-221
TE-241
TE-251

310
Temperature [°C]

300

Introduction
of Fuel Gas
290

280
0 50 100 150 200
Time [min]

Figure 4-17. Riser temperature measured during

methanation Trial 3.

4-12
 4. Results and Discussion

The testing in KBR’s FCC reactor

system also demonstrated the ability to 320
TE-251
TE-320
remove sensible heat from the circulating TE-428

solids. Figure 4-18 presents the solids 310

temperature exiting the riser, stripper, and

regenerator [see Figure 4-15(b) schematic

Temperature [°C]
300
for the thermocouple locations]. During this
testing, a high N2 flow was used in the
stripper and regenerator to cool the solids by 290
Introduction of
removing sensible heat. As shown in Figure Fuel Gas

4-18, the catalyst leaving the stripper and

280
regenerator was significantly cooler than the 0 50
Time [min]
100 150 200

catalyst entering the stripper, indicating that

Figure 4-18. Comparison of catalyst temperatures
a solids cooler should be very effective for exiting the riser, stripper, and
extracting the sensible heat from the regenerator.
circulating solids (i.e., ―regenerating‖ the thermal mass of the circulating solids).

Extended performance testing of Cat-1 in KBR’s FCC test unit was conducted with two different
fuel-gas compositions — Gas A composed of 80 vol% H2 in balance CO2 and Gas B composed of 73.5
vol% H2, 18.2 vol% CO2, and balance CH4. The Gas B composition was chosen to evaluate the inhibiting
effect of CH4 in the inlet feed. Figure 4-19 presents the CO2 conversion at 200, 250, and 300 °C at a riser
gas velocity of 10 ft/s for both test gases. During the first 7 hours of testing in Gas A at 300 °C, the CO2
conversion gradually increased from 82 to 97% [Figure 4-19(a)]. This increase in activity indicated that
the catalyst activation process in which NiO is reduced to elemental Ni had been incomplete so that the
catalyst continued to be reduced during initial testing. This hypothesis was confirmed in the subsequent
tests with Gas B, in which the same catalyst sample was used and did not exhibit this gradual activity
increase [Figure 4-19(b)]. After complete activation, Cat-1 consistently demonstrated 93% or greater CO2
conversion. Equilibrium CO2 conversion with Gas B at 200 and 300 °C is 99.8 and 97.1%, respectively.
The extended test results with Gas B clearly show that the presence of CH4 in the feed did not inhibit the
methanation activity of Cat-1 and its ability to produce near pipeline-quality SNG in a single pass.

The material properties of fresh and spent samples of the scaled Cat-1 catalyst used in the pilot testing
were characterized. As shown in Table 4-4, the scaled Cat-1 material maintained its surface area
throughout extended testing, consistent with the stable activity seen in Figure 4-19. The reduction in
Cat-1 particle size was a result of mechanical attrition caused by the catalyst circulation in the pilot
transport reactor. From these results, the scaled Cat-1 material generated fines at a rate 2-4 times greater
than a commercial FCC material.

4-13
 4. Results and Discussion

100 100
300 C 200 C
250 C 250 C
200 C 300 C

95 95

CO2 Conversion [%]

CO2 Conversion [%]

90 90

85 85

(a) (b)
80 80
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Time [hr] Time [hr]

Figure 4-19. Cat-1 methanation performance in extended testing in KBR’s pilot FCC system with
(a) Gas A and (b) Gas B.

Table 4-4. Fresh and Spent Catalyst Properties of

Scaled Cat-1
Catalyst Property Fresh Cat-1 Spent Cat-1
2
BET surface area (m /g) 174 147
Bulk density (g/ml) 1.2 1.2
1
Davison attrition ratio 2.2 3.6
Particle size distribution
<10 µm 0 3.4
<20 µm 0 15.5
<30 µm 0 47.1
1
Relative ratio of measured attrition loss for material compared
to that of fresh FCC catalyst.

In summary, the pilot transport-reactor test results successfully demonstrated the key advantages of
RTI’s TRM process over conventional commercial methanation technologies. The parametric and
extended tests showed that the TRM process can achieve high single-pass conversion and convert
ethylene-plant fuel-gas mixtures into pipeline-quality SNG. The novel concept of using a fluidizable
catalyst to absorb the heat generated by an exothermic reaction was validated by the limited temperature
rise seen across the transport reactor. Additionally, the ability to use a solids cooler to remove the latent
heat generated by the methanation reaction as sensible heat from the circulating catalyst was shown. The
combination of these results demonstrate the potential of the TRM process to significantly intensify
process configuration and minimize process footprint by utilizing a single transport reactor to convert
ethylene fuel-gas streams into pipeline-quality SNG.

4-14
5. Preliminary Engineering Package

As one of the key objectives for Phase I, RTI developed a basic engineering design (BED) package
for the pilot demonstration unit of RTI’s CO2 reuse process to be integrated into a host site in the next
project phase. The primary goal of the BED package was to determine the cost of a pilot demonstration
unit of RTI’s CO2 reuse process for converting approximately 4 tons per day of CO2 into pipeline-quality
SNG at a field host site. The BED package consisted of a process description, a PFD, heat and material
balances, and a ±30% preliminary economic analysis.

5.1 Process Description

The PFD for the pilot demonstration unit for RTI’s CO2 reuse process is shown in Figure 5-1. The
corresponding material and energy balances are given in Tables 5-1 through 5-5. This unit was designed
to convert 4 tons/day of CO2 into pipeline-quality SNG at a production rate of 4,363 lb/day of SNG. As
shown in Figure 5-1, fuel gas from an ethylene production plant (Stream 1) was mixed with CO2 (Stream
3) to form the inlet gas to the CO2 reuse process unit. The CO2 for Stream 3 was separated from a flue-gas
stream (Stream 2) in the CO2 recovery unit. The flow rate, composition (in mole fraction), temperature,
and pressure of Streams 1 and 3 are provided in Table 5-6.

The combined stream of Streams 1 and 3 to the pilot demonstration unit for the CO2 reuse process
was then compressed by centrifugal compressor (C-100) to the reaction pressure and to overcome
downstream pressure drop. Downstream of the transport reactor (R-200), the primary process equipment
contributing to the pressure drop included heat exchangers HX-200, HX-201, and HX-300 and the
molecular-sieve dryers (V-304/305). Thus, the fuel-gas compressor C-100 was designed for an outlet
pressure of 319.7 psia to meet these reactor pressure and pressure drop specifications. This compressor
comprised four stages with intercoolers using cooling water to lower the next-stage inlet stream
temperature to 38 °C (100 °F). The resulting fuel gas (Stream 5) exited the C-100 compressor at
approximately 319.7 psia and then entered the feed gas heater HX-200, where it was heated to the R-200
reactor inlet temperature of 250° C (482 °F). During start-up, nitrogen (Stream 23) was used to preheat
the reactor system to the desired temperature by flowing it through the electric start-up heater (HX-202)
before entering (R-200).

5-1
 F-200/201 HX-100 HX-101 HX-200 HX-201 HX-202 HX-203 HX-204 HX-300 HX-301 R-200 V-100 V-200 V-201 V-202 V-302 V-303 V-304/305
Filter Flue Gas Desuperheater Feed Gas BFW Heater Start-up Solids Cooler Air Cooler Trim Cooler N2 Heater Transport KO Drum #1 Steam Cyclone Catalyst KO Drum # 2 KO Drum # 3 Mol. Sieve
Cooler Heater Heater Reactor Drum Hopper Dryer

N2 25
NNF 34 CWS

Fresh Catalyst
HX-300
F-200/201

10
35 CWR
HX-204 V-202
Condensate 42
Spent 27 To Flare
41
7 V-201 Solids

NNF
13 14 15 16

HX-201
BFW 36 37 V-200 17 18 SNG
V-302 V-303
40

LP Steam 8
NNF
V-304/305
44
47 HX-101
Flue Gas 43

2 HX-203
19
CWS
B-100 HX-301
28
R-200

HX-100
5-2

CO2 Recovery Unit 26 N2

29
V-100 Vendor Supplied 45 Condensate
38
CWR
39 22 20
Condensate 46 4 3

Treated C-300
Flue Gas
21
Fuel Gas 1

5. Preliminary Engineering Package

32 33

9 B-100 C-100 C-300 P-200/201

Fuel Gas Flue Gas Fuel Gas SNG Recycle BFW Pump
C-100
Compressor Blower Compressor Compressor
6
Vendor Supplied P-200/201
RTI INTERNATIONAL
30 31 24 CENTER FOR ENERGY TECHNOLOGY
Project #: 0212476
HX-200 3040 E. CORNWALLIS RD. PO Box 12194
CWS RTP, NC 27709-2194
12 11

CWR CO2 REUSE

5 PROCESS FLOW DIAGRAM
N2 23 HX-202 Drawing #: 0212476_PFD100 Date: 04/07/10 REV:

Figure 5-1. Process flow diagram (PFD) of RTI’s CO2 reuse process.
 Table 5-1. CO2 Reuse Pilot-Plant Process Material and Energy Balances (Streams 1-11)
5-3

5. Preliminary Engineering Package

 Table 5-2. CO2 Reuse Pilot-Plant Process Material and Energy Balances (Streams 12-22)
5-4

5. Preliminary Engineering Package

 Table 5-3. CO2 Reuse Pilot-Plant Process Material and Energy Balances (Streams 23-33)
5-5

5. Preliminary Engineering Package

 Table 5-4. CO2 Reuse Pilot-Plant Process Material and Energy Balances (Streams 34-44)
5-6

5. Preliminary Engineering Package

 Table 5-5. CO2 Reuse Pilot-Plant Process Material and Energy Balances
(Streams 41-47)
5-7

5. Preliminary Engineering Package

 5. Preliminary Engineering Package

Table 5-6. Gas Properties of Streams 1 and 3

Stream Property Stream 1 Stream 3
Flow rate (SCFM) 211.05 47.68
Composition (mole fraction)
H2 0.898 0.000
CO2 0.000 1.000
CH4 0.102 0.000
CO 0.000 0.000
H2O 0.000 0.000
Total 1.000 1.000
Temperature (°C) 38 38
(100°F) (100°F)
Pressure (psia) 14.7 14.7
SCFM = Standard cubic feet per minute

After entering the transport reactor R-200, the fuel gas flowed upward through a fluidized bed
consisting of Ni-based catalyst, where the fuel gas acted as the fluidization medium. In the presence of the
catalyst, the CO2 and H2 in the fuel gas reacted to produce CH4 and H2O via the reaction in Equation 1.
The reaction converted 98.4% of H2 and 96.8% of CO2 into 119 lb/h of CH4 and 267 lb/h of H2O. This
reaction required a minimum of 26,626 lb/h of Ni-based catalyst (Stream 8) circulating through R-200.
This exothermic reaction generated a heat load of 538,012 Btu/h. The reactor R-200 was not designed
with heat transfer internals, but the solid catalyst particles absorbed the heat generated by the exothermic
reaction and effectively moderated the temperature rise. The temperature of the stream exiting the reactor
(Stream 7) was 300 °C (572 °F).

Because Stream 7 contained both gas and hot

circulating solids, a cyclone (V-201) was used to separate Table 5-7. Properties of Reactor
the solid catalyst particles from the gas. The hot solids Off-Gas Stream 13
were then fed to a solids cooler (HX-203) to reduce the Stream Property Value
solids temperature to 250 °C (482 °F). The solids cooler Flow rate (lb/h) 637
exchanged heat with high-pressure boiler feed water to Composition (mole fraction)
H2 0.019
produce 603 lb/h of high-pressure steam (Stream 41). The
CO2 0.009
hot gas from the cyclone (Stream 10) flowed through a CH4 0.581
filter (F-200/201) to remove any remaining catalyst before CO 0.000
entering the feed gas heater (HX-200) to reduce its H 2O 0.390
Total 0.999
temperature to 215 °C (419 °F). Finally, this reactor off-
Temperature (°C) 160
gas was further cooled in the boiler feed water heater (320 °F)
(HX-201) to the point where appreciable condensation Pressure (psia) 294.7
occurred. This exchanger cooled the gas to 160 °C (320 Vapor fraction 0.90
°F) while heating 603 lb/h of high-pressure boiler feed
water to 196 °C (384 °F). The flow rate, composition, and other stream properties of the reactor off-gas
exiting HX-201 (Stream 13) are shown in Table 5-7.

5-8
 5. Preliminary Engineering Package

Boiler feed water (Stream 36) entered the process at a flow rate of 603 lb/h, a temperature of 104 °C
(220 °F), and a pressure of 644.7 psia. This stream was heated in the boiler feed water heater (HX-201) to
a temperature of 196 °C (384 °F). The boiler feed water effluent (Stream 37) entered the steam drum (V-
200), where it was mixed with the hot stream from the solids cooler (HX-203). The steam drum separated
the liquid from the vapor of this mixed stream. The liquid from the steam drum was then sent to HX-203
to be partially vaporized. The steam emitted from the steam drum had two possible destinations. First, the
steam was condensed in an air cooler (HX-204) to produce 603 lb/h of condensate (Stream 42). Second,
the steam was combined with 14 lb/h of boiler feed water in the desuperheater (HX-101) to produce 617
lb/hr of low-pressure steam for use in the CO2 recovery unit.

The two-phase reactor off-gas exiting HX-201 (Stream 13) was sent to knockout (KO) drum #2
(V-302), where 71 lb/h of condensed water (Stream 43) was separated from the remaining gas. The
resultant gas stream (Stream 14) entered the trim cooler (HX-300) to reduce its temperature to 38 °C
(100 °F) by exchanging heat with cooling water. The
Table 5-8. Properties of Product SNG
cooling water entered the exchanger at 30 °C (85 °F) as Stream 18
Stream 34 and exited at 41 °C (105 °F) as Stream 35. Stream Property Value
The cooled gas (Stream 15) then flowed to KO drum #3 Flow rate (SCFM) 69.21
(V-303), where 195 lb/h of condensed water (Stream Composition (mole fraction)
44) was separated from it. To remove any remaining H2 0.031
CO2 0.016
H2O, the gas was then sent to a molecular-sieve dryer
CH4 0.953
(V-304/305), which removed 1 lb/h of H2O. The CO 0.000
molecular sieve used in the dryer was Zeolite 4A, a H2O 0.000
commonly used drying agent for natural gas streams. Total 1.000
Temperature (°C) 38
The flow rate of the final SNG product (Stream 18) was (100 °F)
182 lb/h. Its composition, temperature, and pressure are Pressure (psia) 289.7
presented in Table 5-8. SCFM = Standard cubic feet per minute

5.1.1 Vessel and Equipment Descriptions

B-100
Flue-Gas Blower
Description: The blower B-100 was used to elevate the inlet flue-gas pressure for the CO2 recovery
unit from atmospheric pressure to 21.8 psia. The flue gas was sent to the CO2 recovery unit to capture
the CO2 that would be used by the CO2 reuse process unit to produce SNG.

Design Basis:
 Capacity: 28,176 actual cubic feet per hour (ft3/h; gas flow)
 Differential pressure: 7.1 pounds per square inch (psi)
 Work power: 23 horsepower (HP; 75% efficiency)
 Type: Centrifugal
 Material: Carbon steel
 Inlet and outlet process stream composition, temperature, and pressure (see Material Balance)

5-9
 5. Preliminary Engineering Package

C-100
Fuel-Gas Compressor
Description: The compressor C-100 was used to compress the combined stream of fuel gas (Stream
1) and CO2 (Stream 3) after mixing from 14.7 to 319.7 psia to the reaction pressure in transport
reactor R-200 and to overcome pressure losses throughout the process. The C-100 compressor
consisted of four stages with intercoolers fed with cooling water (Stream 30). This cooling water was
returned back to the plant (Stream 31).

Design Basis:
 Capacity: 18,385 actual ft3/h (gas flow)
 Cooling water capacity: 20 gallons per minute [gpm; 29 °C (85 °F) supply and 41 °C (105 °F)
return]
 Differential pressure: 305 psi
 Work power: 132 HP (78% efficiency)
 Type: Four-stage centrifugal
 Material: Carbon steel
 Inlet and outlet process stream composition, temperature, and pressure (see Material Balance)

C-300
SNG Recycle Compressor
Description: Stream 17 was split into a product SNG stream (Stream 18) and a recycle SNG stream
(Stream 19). The recycle SNG was used as fluidizing gas in the reactor J-leg and the solids cooler
(HX-203). To overcome pressure losses in the reactor J-leg and the solids cooler, the pressure of the
fluidizing gas Stream 19 was raised using compressor C-300 from 289.7 to 319.7 psia. The C-300
compressor consisted of one stage and did not require any cooling water.

Design Basis:
 Capacity: 259 actual ft3/h (gas flow)
 Differential pressure: 30 psi
 Work power: 0.9 HP (78% efficiency)
 Type: One-stage centrifugal
 Material: Carbon steel
 Inlet and outlet process stream composition, temperature, and pressure (see Material Balance)

CO2 RECOVERY UNIT

CO2 Recovery Unit
Description: The CO2 from the flue gas (Stream 2) was captured in a CO2 recovery unit using 30 wt%
monoethanolamine (MEA) as the absorbing solvent. The captured CO2 was sent to the CO2 reuse
process unit as Stream 3, and the treated flue gas was returned to the plant.

Design Basis:
 Capacity: 4.5 tons/day of CO2 captured
 Material: Carbon steel
 Inlet and outlet process stream composition, temperature, and pressure (see Material Balance)

F-200/201
Filter (Two Filters, One Spare)
Description: Sintered-metal filter F-200/201 was used to remove 99.9% of all solids in Stream 10, the
gas stream leaving the cyclone V-201. The attrition rate of solids to the filter was assumed to be
100 lb/MMlb circulated.

5-10
 5. Preliminary Engineering Package

Design Basis:
 Type: Porous sintered-metal hot-gas filter
 Area: 3.175 square feet (ft2)
 Space velocity: 7 feet per minute (ft/min; Mott)
 Gas flow: 1,467 actual ft3/h (gas flow)
 Solids flow: 2.6 lb/h
 Material: 304 SS
 Inlet and outlet process stream composition, temperature, and pressure (see Material Balance)

HX-100
Flue-Gas Cooler
Description: The pressurized flue gas exiting flue-gas blower B-100 was cooled to 38 °C (100 °F) in
condenser HX-100 (flue-gas cooler) with cooling water (Stream 28). The resulting cooled gas then
entered KO drum #1 (V-100), where the condensed water in the stream was removed. The used
cooling water from HX-100 was returned to the plant as Stream 29.

Design Basis:
 Capacity: 21,937 actual ft3/h (gas flow)
 Cooling water demand: 30 gpm [29 °C (85 °F) supply and 38 °C (100 °F) return]
 Type: Gas-liquid shell-and-tube heat exchanger
 Area: 221.87 ft2
 Overall heat transfer coefficient: 25 Btu/(h·ft2·°R)
 Log mean temperature differential (LMTD): 40.04 °F
 Heat duty: 221,315 Btu/h
 Material: Carbon steel
 Inlet and outlet process stream composition, temperature, and pressure (see Material Balance)

HX-101
Desuperheater
Description: Desuperheater HX-101 was used to depressurize high-pressure steam to low-pressure
steam by using boiler feed water. The pressure of the resulting low-pressure steam was 64.7 psia.

Design Basis:
 Capacity: 663 lb/h (high-pressure steam flow)
 Boiler feed water flow: 15 lb/h [104 °C (220 °F), 644.7 psia]
 Steam pressure drop: 550 psi
 Material: Carbon steel
 Inlet and outlet process stream composition, temperature, and pressure (see Material Balance)

HX-200
Feed-Gas Heater
Description: The off-gas (Stream 11) from the filter F-200/201 was used to heat the reactor gas feed
(Stream 5) in heat exchanger HX-200 (feed-gas heater). The fuel gas was elevated to the required
reaction temperature of 250 °C (482 °F) before entering transport reactor R-200 as Stream 6.

Design Basis:
 Capacity: 1,150 actual ft3/h (fuel-gas flow) and 1,467 actual ft3/h (reactor off-gas flow)
 Type: Gas-gas shell-and-tube heat exchanger
 Area: 21.60 ft2
 Overall heat transfer coefficient: 30 Btu/(h·ft2·°R)
 LMTD: 105.30 °F

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 5. Preliminary Engineering Package

 Heat duty: 66,990 Btu/h

 Material: Carbon steel
 Inlet and outlet process stream composition, temperature, and pressure (see Material Balance)

HX-201
Boiler Feed Water Heater
Description: The reactor off-gas exiting feed gas heater HX-200 (Stream 12) was used to preheat
boiler feed water (Stream 36) in heat exchanger HX-201 (boiler feed water heater). The preheated
boiler feed water (Stream 37) then entered the steam drum V-200, while the reactor off-gas exited
HX-201 (Stream 13) and proceeded to the condenser area. The purpose of heating the boiler feed
water was to bring its temperature close to the saturation temperature for high-pressure steam. The
heated boiler feed water was then partially vaporized in the solids cooler (HX-203) to aid in cooling
the solid catalyst.

Design Basis:
 Capacity: 663 lb/h (boiler feed water mass flow) and 1,275 actual ft3/h (reactor off-gas flow)
 Type: Gas-liquid shell-and-tube heat exchanger
 Area: 73.04 ft2
 Overall heat transfer coefficient: 25 Btu/(h·ft2·°R)
 LMTD: 16.5 °C (61.7 °F)
 Heat duty: 111,994 Btu/h
 Material: Carbon steel
 Inlet and outlet process stream composition, temperature, and pressure (see Material Balance)

HX-202
Start-Up Heater
Description: An electric circulation heater (HX-202) was used to heat N2 that was used during
start-up to preheat the reactor system. After the reactor was heated, the flow of fuel-gas Stream 5
through HX-200 was then started.

Design Basis:
 Power input: 128 kilowatts (kW)
 Type: Electric circulation heater
 Material: Carbon steel shell with Incoloy internal elements
 Inlet and outlet process stream composition, temperature, and pressure (see Material Balance)

HX-203
Solids Cooler
Description: The solids cooler was used to cool the hot solids exiting cyclone V-201 (Stream 8)
before they were returned as Stream 9 to the reactor. The hot solids partially vaporized the boiler feed
water (Stream 39) to produce saturated, high-pressure steam (Stream 40). The solids cooler was a
bayonet heat exchanger in which the boiler feed water flowed through multiple U-shaped tubes and
the solids passed along the outside of these tubes. To ensure that the solids sufficiently contacted the
tubes, a portion of the product SNG leaving the molecular-sieve dryer (V-304/305) was recycled to
fluidize the solid catalyst. The solids in the J-leg return to the reactor (Stream 9) were also fluidized
by the recycled SNG.

Design Basis:
 Type: Bayonet heat exchanger
 Material: 304 SS
 Area: 311.02 ft2

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 5. Preliminary Engineering Package

 Heat duty: 591,813 Btu/h

 Boiler feed water flow: 663 lb/h
 Solids flow: 29,289 lb/h
 Fluidization velocity: 0.03 feet per second (ft/s)
 LMTD: 19.0 °F
 Overall heat transfer coefficient: 100 Btu/(h·ft2·°R)
 Inlet and outlet process stream composition, temperature, and pressure (see Material Balance)

HX-204
Air Cooler
Description: The high-pressure steam exiting steam drum V-200 (Stream 41) either entered the air-
cooled fin cooler (HX-204) to condense it to boiler feed water for return to the plant or was combined
with boiler feed water in the desuperheater (HX-101) to produce low-pressure steam for use in the
CO2 recovery unit. The air cooler HX-204 consisted of a fan with motor that blew air over a finned
tube bank to condense the steam (Stream 42).

Design Basis:
 Steam Flow: 663 lb/h
 Type: Air-cooled heat exchanger
 Area: 9.82 ft2
 Overall heat transfer coefficient: 135 Btu/(h·ft2·°R)
 LMTD: 186.0 °C (366.79 °F)
 Heat duty: 483,392 Btu/h
 Power input: 6 kW
 Material: Carbon steel
 Inlet and outlet process stream composition, temperature, and pressure (see Material Balance)

HX-300
Trim Cooler
Description: The reactor off-gas (Stream 14) exiting KO drum #2 (V-302) was cooled to 38 °C
(100 °F) in condenser HX-300 (trim cooler) using cooling water (Stream 34). The resulting cooled
gas (Stream 15) then entered KO drum #3 (V-303) to separate any condensed water from the gas. The
used cooling water from HX-300 was returned to the plant as Stream 35.

Design Basis:
 Capacity: 1,025 actual ft3/h (off-gas flow)
 Cooling water demand: 30 gpm (85 °F supply and 105 °F return)
 Type: Gas-liquid shell-and-tube heat exchanger
 Area: 161.40 ft2
 Overall heat transfer coefficient: 25 Btu/(h·ft2·°R)
 LMTD: 23.9 °C (75.0 °F)
 Heat duty: 301,382 Btu/h
 Material: Carbon steel
 Inlet and outlet process stream composition, temperature, and pressure (see Material Balance)

HX-301
N2 Heater
Description: An electric circulation heater HX-301 (N2 heater) was used to heat the nitrogen (Stream
26) used to regenerate the Zeolite 4A molecular-sieve dryers (V-304/305). To desorb the H2O from
the zeolite, the nitrogen was heated to 288 °C (550 °F). After a 24-hour desorption period, the heater

5-13
 5. Preliminary Engineering Package

was turned off while the nitrogen continued to flow through the molecular-sieve dryers for another
6 hours to cool the dryers to ambient temperature.

Design Basis:
 Power input: 32 kW
 Type: Electric circulation heater
 Material: Carbon steel shell with Incoloy internal elements
 Inlet and outlet process stream composition, temperature, and pressure (see Material Balance)

P-200/201
Boiler Feed Water Pump (Two Pumps, One Spare)
Description: A boiler feed water pump (P-200/201) was used to provide the pressure needed to pump
the H2O from the steam drum V-200 to the solids cooler HX-203, which was located at a higher
elevation (i.e., Streams 38 and 39).

Design Basis:
 Capacity: 14 gpm
 Total dynamic head (TDH): 160 feet (ft.)
 Pressure differential: 15 psi
 Power input: 2.19 brake horsepower (BHP)
 Type: Centrifugal
 Material: Carbon steel
 Inlet and outlet process stream composition, temperature, and pressure (see Material Balance)

R-200
Transport Reactor Methanator
Description: The fuel gas (Stream 6) containing H2 and CO2 was mixed with the Ni-based catalyst
particles in the transport reactor R-200, where the reactants reacted to produce CH4 and H2O. This
R-200 reactor was a fluidized bed, with the fuel gas acting as the fluidizing medium. Though the
methanation reaction was exothermic (reaction in Equation 1), the solid catalyst particles absorbed
the majority of the reaction heat, effectively moderating the heat released. The off-gas and hot
catalyst particles were separated in the cyclone V-201. The off-gas was further processed downstream
into product SNG, while the solids were cooled in the solids cooler HX-203 before being returned to
the reactor. The R-200 reactor system consisted of a mixing zone, riser, cyclone, standpipe, J-leg, and
solids cooler. The fuel-gas feed was introduced at the bottom of the mixing zone and then traveled up
through the riser. The reaction producing CH4 and H2O occurred in the mixing zone and riser. The
pipe connecting the riser to the cyclone was sloped downward at 15 degrees to help solids flow into
the cyclone. The solid catalyst was separated from the gas in the cyclone and passed through the
standpipe to reach the solids cooler. After passing through the solids cooler, the solids were returned
to the reactor mixing zone by way of the J-leg section. This J-leg section was fluidized by recycled
SNG flowing at a velocity of 0.5 ft/s.

Design Basis:
 Capacity: 1,455 actual ft3/h (fuel-gas flow); 1,176 ft3/h (off-gas flow); and 29,289 lb/h (solid-
catalyst circulation rate)
 Gas velocity: 2.49 ft/s in mixing zone and 9.95 ft/s in riser
 Type: Vertical pressure vessel
 Total height: 100 ft. (20 ft. for mixing zone; 60 ft. for riser; 20 ft. off grade for mixing zone)
 Inside diameter: 6 in. for mixing zone; 3 in. for riser, 6 in. for standpipe; and 3 in. for J-leg
 Fluidization velocity: 0.5 ft/s
 Material: 304 SS

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 5. Preliminary Engineering Package

 Refractory thickness: 2 in.

 Inlet and outlet process stream composition, temperature, and pressure (see Material Balance)

V-100
KO Drum #1
Description: The KO drum #1 (V-100) was used to separate the condensed water from the cooled flue
gas exiting the flue-gas cooler HX-100. The condensate left as Stream 46 from the bottom of the
V-100 vessel, while the gas exited from the top of the vessel and proceeded to the CO2 recovery unit.

Design Basis:
 Capacity: 15,336 actual ft3/h (inlet flow); 15,333 actual ft3/h (outlet gas flow); and 158 lb/h
(condensate mass flow)
 Type: Vertical pressure vessel
 T/T: 5.5 ft.
 Diameter: 18 in. nominal pipe size (NPS; Schedule 40)
 Material: Carbon steel
 Inlet and outlet process stream composition, temperature, and pressure (see Material Balance)

V-200
Steam Drum
Description: The preheated boiler feed water (Stream 37) entered the steam drum V-200 and then
exited through the downcomer pipe as Stream 38 before entering the solids cooler HX-203. In the
solids cooler, this boiler feed water absorbed the heat from the solids, partially vaporizing in the
process, before returning as Stream 40 to the steam drum, where this now saturated steam was
separated into steam and H2O. The steam then exited the top of the drum as Stream 41 before passing
through the air-cooled exchanger HX-204.

Design Basis:
 Capacity: 663 lb/h (boiler feed water mass flow) and 5,369 lb/h (partially vaporized steam
mass flow)
 Type: Vertical pressure vessel
 T/T: 9.5 ft.
 Diameter: 36 in. NPS (Schedule 40)
 Material: Carbon steel
 Inlet and outlet process stream composition, temperature, and pressure (see Material Balance)

V-201
Cyclone
Description: After exiting the transport reactor R-200, the hot catalyst solids and off-gas were sent
into a cyclone (V-201) to separate the solids from the gas. The solids exited the bottom of the cyclone
as Stream 8 and proceeded to the solids cooler HX-203. The off-gas, leaving from the top of the
cyclone as Stream 10, proceeded to the filter F-200/201.

Design Basis:
 Capacity: 1,467 actual ft3/h (reactor off-gas flow) and 29,289 lb/h (solids mass flow)
 Diameter: 24 in. NPS (Schedule 40)
 Type: Pressure vessel
 Material: Carbon steel
 Inlet and outlet process stream composition, temperature, and pressure (see Material Balance)

5-15
 5. Preliminary Engineering Package

V-202
Catalyst Hopper
Description: Although the solid catalyst was separated from the off-gas stream in cyclone V-201,
some solids still flowed through the cyclone with the off-gas and were hence lost from the reactor
system. To replenish the reactor system with fresh catalyst, a lock hopper system (V-202) with
Everlast valves was designed based on an assumed solids attrition rate of 100 lb/MMlb circulated.

Design Basis:
 Material: 304 SS
 Lock hopper size: 30-day total supply; V-202 with refill after 21 days; 2,372 lb.; 4 ft. hopper
height; 4 ft. cone height; and 3 ft. diameter

V-302
KO Drum #2
Description: A KO drum #2 (V-302) was used to separate the condensate from the off-gas Stream 13
exiting HX-201. The condensate left from the bottom of the vessel as Stream 43, while the gas exited
from the top of the vessel as Stream 14 and proceeded to the off-gas condenser HX-300 (trim cooler)
for further cooling before entering KO drum #3 (V-303).

Design Basis:
 Capacity: 1,026 actual ft3/h (inlet flow); 1,025 actual ft3/h (outlet gas flow); and 78 lb/h
(condensate mass flow)
 Type: Vertical pressure vessel
 T/T: 5.0 ft.
 Diameter: 18 in. NPS (Schedule 40)
 Material: Carbon steel
 Inlet and outlet process stream composition, temperature, and pressure (see Material Balance)

V-303
KO Drum #3
Description: A KO drum #3 (V-303) was used to separate the condensate from the cooled off-gas
Stream 15 exiting the trim cooler HX-300. The condensate exited from the bottom of the vessel as
Stream 44, while the gas left from the top of the vessel as Stream 16 and proceeded to the molecular-
sieve dryer (V-304/305) for removal of the remaining H2O.

Design Basis:
 Capacity: 514 actual ft3/h (inlet flow), 510 actual ft3/h (outlet gas flow), 215 lb/h (condensate
mass flow)
 Type: Vertical pressure vessel
 T/T: 5.5 ft.
 Diameter: 18 in. NPS (Schedule 40)
 Material: Carbon steel
 Inlet and outlet process stream composition, temperature, and pressure (see Material Balance)

V-304/305
Molecular-Sieve Dryer (Two Vessels, One Spare)
Description: For final drying, the off-gas Stream 16 exiting KO drum #3 (V-303) was sent to one of
the molecular-sieve dryer vessels V-304 or V-305, depending on which vessel was being operated at
the time. These vessels contained a bed of Zeolite 4A material for adsorbing the H2O from the gas.
The resulting dried off-gas then exited from the top of the V-303 vessel as product SNG (Stream 17).
Water adsorbed on the zeolite beds was desorbed by first flowing heated nitrogen over the bed for 24

5-16
 5. Preliminary Engineering Package

hours and then letting the bed cool for 6 hours under flowing unheated nitrogen. The nitrogen
containing the desorbed H2O exited from the top of vessel V-303 as Stream 27 and was sent to the
flare.

Design Basis:
 Capacity: 510 actual ft3/h (inlet gas flow), 509 actual ft3/h (outlet gas flow), 62.60 standard
ft3/min (nitrogen gas flow), and 1.4 lb/h (water mass adsorbed)
 Type: Vertical pressure vessel
 T/T: 7.5 ft.
 Diameter: 2.5 ft.ID ( inner diameter)
 Material: Carbon steel
 Inlet and outlet process stream composition, temperature, and pressure (see Material Balance)

5-17
6. Preliminary Cost Estimation

With information on the materials of construction, operating and design temperatures and pressures,
heat duties and major equipment power requirements from the preliminary engineering package in
Section 5, the web site <http://matche.com> was used to develop cost estimates for a majority of the
equipment for the pilot demonstration unit for the CO2 reuse process. This web site, which gives cost
estimates for a wide variety of equipment, only provides the uninstalled cost for each type of equipment.
All equipment costs on this web site are based on 2007 pricing in U.S. dollars. To determine the
equipment cost in 2010, a 3% per year inflation rate was added to the cost obtained from this web site.
Some of the equipment was also estimated from vendor quotations obtained for previous projects and/or
proposals. The total uninstalled equipment cost for the pilot demonstration unit for RTI’s CO2 reuse
process was estimated to be $1,953,090, as shown in Table 6-1.

The installed equipment cost for the pilot demonstration unit for RTI’s CO2 reuse process was
estimated to be $5,859,271, which included labor, structure and balance of plant, insulation,
transportation, piping, and electrical components. The method used to determine this installed cost was
the Lang Method, which estimates installed costs to be three times the uninstalled costs.

Assuming an estimated catalyst cost of $30 per pound, the cost for the catalyst was $156,630. Using
typical commercial pricing for molecular sieves, the estimated cost for this adsorbent was $101,580.

By summing the uninstalled equipment costs, the installed equipment costs, and the catalyst and
adsorbent costs, the preliminary total installed cost for the pilot demonstration unit for RTI’s CO2 reuse
process was estimated to be $8,070,332. Table 6-1 summarizes the development of this preliminary cost
estimate and includes all major equipment and the key design criteria used to estimate this cost.

6-1
 6. Preliminary Cost Estimation

Table 6-1. Equipment List and Preliminary Cost for RTI’s CO2 Reuse Process

6-2
7. Conclusions and Recommendations

This Phase I research investigated the feasibility of converting CO2 into pipeline-quality SNG by
using a transport reactor-based methanation process. Using methanation activity and selectivity criteria
developed on the basis of commercial fixed-bed methanation catalysts, various catalyst
synthesis/preparation techniques were used to develop, prepare, and optimize two fluidizable Ni-based
catalyst formulations, Cat-1 and Cat-3, with high methanation activity and selectivity under fluidized-bed
conditions. Furthermore, both the Cat-1 and Cat-3 formulations were successfully scaled up using
commercial manufacturing equipment. Process feasibility was demonstrated in a pilot transport reactor
with the scaled batch of Cat-1. Using information acquired from bench- and pilot-scale testing, a basic
engineering design (BED) package and preliminary cost estimate for a 4-ton/day CO2 pilot demonstration
unit were prepared.

Significant accomplishments and major conclusions of this study are:

■ Development of BED package for a pilot demonstration unit for RTI’s CO2 reuse process,
including PFD, material and energy balances, PIDs, equipment list, interface diagrams, plot plan,
and preliminary cost estimate
■ Evaluation of methanation activity of five commercial methanation catalyst formulations under
fluidized-bed conditions
■ Development of two catalysts formulations, Cat-1 and Cat-3, for fluidized-bed applications.
These formulations were shown to possess similar or better methanation performance than
commercial catalysts.
■ Investigation of two synthesis methods (constant pH and raised pH) using various precipitation
agents
■ Determining that precipitating agent significantly affected catalyst performance
■ Little to no degradation in Cat-1 methanation activity after extended bench-scale testing
(800 hours)
■ Successful scale-up of 100-lb batch of Cat-1 at SCI’s pilot-plant facility in Louisville, KY, for
pilot-plant testing. During bench-scale testing, it was demonstrated that the scaled material
calcined at 350 °C had methanation activity and selectivity essentially identical to that of the
corresponding laboratory-prepared material.
■ Successful demonstration of process feasibility during pilot transport reactor testing at KBR’s
Technology Center in Houston, TX. Pilot-scale testing with the scaled batch of Cat-1
demonstrated 93% or greater CO2 conversion, stable performance, limited temperature rise across
the reactor, and the removal of sensible heat from the circulating catalyst using a solids cooler.
■ Scale-up of 100-lb batch of Cat-3 at SCI’s pilot-plant facility in Louisville, KY. During bench-
scale testing, it was determined that the scaled Cat-3 material possessed lower CO2 methanation
activity than the corresponding laboratory-prepared material at reaction temperatures below
350 °C.
At this time, no further development activities are planned. Further research and development
activities required include:

7-1
 7. Conclusions and Recommendations

■ Increase in strength of fluidizable methanation catalyst.

While the fluidizable Cat-1 and Cat-3 formulations possess CO2 methanation activity equivalent
or superior to commercial methanation catalysts, their strength still requires improvement. Our
recommendations for improving catalyst material strength are:
 Adding binding agents to the current fluidizable catalyst formulations
 Increasing concentration of the support component in the catalyst formulations
 Impregnating hardened fluidizable supports with Ni and select promoters

7-2