Process for producing ammonia synthesis gas and a method for revamping a front-end of an ammonia plant

1. A procedure for revamping a front-end of an ammonia plant, said front-end being arranged to produce ammonia synthesis gas containing hydrogen and nitrogen by steam reforming of a hydrocarbon gaseous feedstock, said front-end including a primary reformer, a secondary reformer, a shift conversion section, and a CO 2 removal section, said procedure including at least:

installation of a gas-heated reformer after said secondary reformer, said gas-heated reformer being a shell-and-tube heat exchanger having a tube side and a shell side, and providing a catalytic reforming of a first gas current passing in the tube side and indirect heating of said first gas current by a second current traversing the shell side,

said first current including a portion of the available hydrocarbon feedstock, the remaining portion of said feedstock being directed to said primary reformer, and said second current comprising at least a portion of a product gas effluent from said secondary reformer,

said secondary reformer being an air-fired secondary reformer, and the procedure including the step of modifying said secondary reformer to operate with O 2 -enriched air, and

wherein said front-end includes a methanation section and said procedure provides for the addition of nitrogen to a product gas flowing in said methanation section or to a product gas effluent from said methanation section, or wherein the procedure provides for the installation of a final purification section after said CO 2 removal section, for the removal of inert gases from CO 2 -depleted product gas effluent from said CO 2 removal section, and nitrogen is added to a product gas flowing in said final purification section or to a product gas effluent from said final purification section.

2. The procedure of claim 1 , wherein said first current is a portion of a mixed flow comprising steam and the available hydrocarbon feedstock, which is redirected to said gas-heated reactor while the remaining portion is directed to said primary reformer.

3. The procedure of claim 2 , said mixed flow having a steam-to-carbon ratio of between 2 and 3.5.

4. The procedure of claim 1 , said second current comprising product gas effluent from said secondary reformer or autothermal reformer, and also comprising product gas leaving said tube side of said gas-heated reformer.

5. The procedure of claim 1 , said 02-enriched air being obtained by adding an oxygen flow to ambient air.

6. The procedure of claim 5 , said oxygen flow being in an amount to provide a molar concentration of oxygen in the enriched air between 25% and 70%.

7. The procedure of claim 5 , said oxygen flow being delivered by an air-separation unit.

8. The procedure of claim 7 , further comprising the provision and the installation of said air-separation unit.

9. The procedure of claim 1 , further including the revamping of said shift conversion section and/or the revamping of said CO 2 removal section.

10. The procedure of claim 9 , including the revamping of said shift conversion section by means of one or more of the following: the conversion of one or more existing axial-flow shift converters into axial-radial shift converters; adding one or more shift converters in parallel to the existing ones; replacing one or more existing adiabatic high-temperature shift converters with one or more isothermal medium-temperature shift converters.

11. The procedure of claim 10 , including the provision of one or more isothermal medium-temperature shift converters or the modification of one or more existing shift converters to operate as medium shift converters, wherein said medium-temperature shift converters include a copper-based catalyst, and comprise a heat exchanger immersed in the catalyst, to remove the heat produced by the exothermic shift conversion.

12. The procedure of claim 11 , said medium temperature being in the range of 200-300° C.

13. The procedure of claim 1 , said purification section including a methanation section.

14. The procedure of claim 1 , said purification section including a nitrogen wash section or a cryogenic condensation section for condensation of nitrogen and inerts, or a PSA unit.

15. The procedure of claim 14 , said purification section including a nitrogen wash section or a cryogenic condensation section, said procedure including the provision of a nitrogen line for addition of nitrogen before or into said nitrogen wash section or said cryogenic condensation section, and said nitrogen being in an amount suitable to obtain a purified synthesis gas containing hydrogen and nitrogen in a molar ratio around 3 to 1.

16. A process for producing ammonia synthesis gas containing hydrogen and nitrogen by steam reforming of a hydrocarbon gaseous feedstock, including:

mixing said hydrocarbon gaseous feedstock with steam,

reforming a first portion of the so obtained mixed flow of gaseous feedstock and steam in a primary reformer and then in a secondary reformer or in an autothermal reformer, obtaining a first product gas,

reforming a second portion of said mixed flow in a gas-heated reactor, obtaining a second product gas,

said gas-heated reactor being heated by a current of product gas comprising at least a portion said first product gas, wherein:

said secondary reformer operates with O 2 -enriched air, and

nitrogen is added to a product gas flowing in a final purification step or to a product gas effluent from said final purification step.

17. The process of claim 16 , said secondary reformer or autothermal reformer operating with O 2 -enriched air having a concentration of oxygen between 25% and 70% molar.

18. The process of claim 16 , further comprising the treatment of product gas comprising: shift conversion, removal of carbon dioxide, and purification of CO 2 -depleted product gas after said removal of carbon dioxide, and said purification including at least one of the following: a methanation process; nitrogen wash; cryogenic condensation; pressure-swing adsorption (PSA).