Nama: Fahmi Reza

Wijanarko

1. What is synthesis gas?

NRP : 2313100123

Synthesis gas, which is a mixture comprising of carbon monoxide, carbon

dioxide, and hydrogen. The syngas is produced by gasification of a carbon
containing fuel to a gaseous product that has some heating value. Some of the
examples of syngas production include gasification of coal emissions, waste
emissions to energy gasification, and steam reforming of coke. Syngas is also an
intermediate in creating synthetic petroleum to use as a lubricant or fuel.
The production of syngas for use as a raw material in fuel production is
accomplished by the gasification of coal or municipal waste. In these reactions,
carbon combines with water or oxygen to give rise to carbon dioxide, carbon
monoxide, and hydrogen. Syngas is used as an intermediate in the industrial
synthesis of ammonia and fertilizer. During this process, methane (from natural
gas) combines with water to generate carbon monoxide and hydrogen.
The gasification process is used to convert any material that has carbon to
longer hydrocarbon chains. One of the uses of this syngas is as a fuel to
manufacture steam or electricity. Another use is as a basic chemical building
block for many petrochemical and refining processes.
The general raw materials used for gasification (creation of syngas) are coal,
petroleum based materials, or other materials that would be rejected as waste.
From these materials, a feedstock is prepared. This is inserted to the gasifier in
dry or slurry form. In the gasifier, this feedstock reacts in an oxygen starved
environment with steam at elevated pressure and temperature. The resultant
syngas is composed of 85% carbon monoxide and hydrogen and small amounts
of methane and carbon dioxide.
The syngas may contain some trace elements of impurities, which are removed
through further processing and either recovered or redirected to the gasifier. For
example, sulfur is recovered in the elemental form or as sulfuric acid and both of
these can be marketed. Syngas is a primary source of sulfuric acid. If syngas
contains a considerable quantity of nitrogen, the nitrogen must be separated to
avoid production of nitric oxides, which are pollutants and contribute to acid rain
production. Both carbon monoxide and nitrogen have similar boiling points so
recovering pure carbon monoxide requires cryogenic processing, which is very
difficult.
If the syngas is to be put to use to generate electricity, then it is generally used
as a fuel in an IGCC (integrated gasification combine cycle) power generation
configuration. The energy is then utilized by the factor that original produce the
syngas, thereby lowering operating costs. There are commercially available
technologies to process syngas to generate industrial gases, fertilizers,
chemicals, fuels and other products.

Nama: Fahmi Reza

Wijanarko
NRP : 2313100123

2. What is fischer-tropsch?
The Fischer-Tropsch process is a catalytic chemical reaction in which carbon
monoxide (CO) and hydrogen (H2) in the syngas are converted into hydrocarbons
of various molecular weights according to the following equation:
(2n+1) H2 + n CO Cn H(2n+2) + n H2O
Catalysts considered for Fischer-Tropsch synthesis are based on transition metals
of iron, cobalt, nickel and ruthenium. FT catalyst development has largely been
focused on the preference for high molecular weight linear alkanes and diesel
fuels production.

Nickel (Ni) tends to promote methane formation, as in a methanation

process, thus generally it is not desirable

Iron (Fe) is relatively low cost and has a higher water-gas-shift activity, and
is therefore more suitable for a lower hydrogen/carbon monoxide ratio
(H2/CO) syngas such as those derived from coal gasification

Cobalt (Co) is more active, and generally preferred over ruthenium (Ru)
because of the prohibitively high cost of Ru

In comparison to iron, Co has much less water-gas-shift activity, and is

much more costly.

Nama: Fahmi Reza

Wijanarko
NRP : 2313100123

Nama: Fahmi Reza

Wijanarko
NRP : 2313100123

Nama: Fahmi Reza

Wijanarko
NRP : 2313100123

Liquid transportation hydrocarbon fuels and various other chemical products can
be produced from syngas via the well-known and established catalytic chemical
process called Fischer-Tropsch (FT) synthesis, named after the original German
inventors, Franz Fischer and Hans Tropsch in the 1920s.

Nama: Fahmi Reza

Wijanarko
NRP : 2313100123