Modeling of a synthesis gas production reactor using Aspen plus

Synthesis gas is a mixture of hydrogen gas and carbon monoxide, which usually contains carbon dioxide as an additive. This gas is the raw material in the production of many basic materials of the petrochemical industry such as methanol. Various raw materials have been used to produce synthetic gas, including natural gas (methane), hydrocarbons, and coal. This gas is also very suitable as an intermediate material for the production of industrial products, and depending on the reaction conditions and catalysts used, different chemicals may be produced in large industrial units. Modeling a synthesis gas production reactor as the heart of an operating unit in the petrochemical industry is of particular importance. Simulation of refinery units is always associated with many problems due to the complexity of the process and the lack of proper kinetics. In recent years, software such as Span Plus has been used to simulate and study refinery processes, which in this regard have to some extent facilitated and achieved the appropriate. In this research, the synthesis gas production unit is simulated with two methods of steam reforming and partial oxidation method using Aspen Plus V8.4 software. By examining parameters such as conversion rate, hydrogen to CO ratio, reactor temperature and pressure during the production process and other variables, the simulation results show that after adjusting the reaction coefficients, parameters such as inlet feed temperature, reactor length and time Residues affect the production of desired products that the use of steam reforming in terms of production of synthetic gas has a higher efficiency than the partial oxidation system.