Page 36 - Industrial Plants

and manufacturing design. An example is relevant to
the syngas cooling system, that needs to cool down
the syngas out of the reactor from the typical high
reaction temperature (800-1000°C) to about 300°C,
prior the feed in the “water gas shift” process
section.
The syngas cooler system developed by Fores,
based on proprietary know-how and a preliminary
thorough risk analysis, is specified as a coil-type
heat exchanger and has demonstrated to be a better
solution both from technical and economical point of
view compared to the traditional shell&tube waste-
heat boiler, as indicated in the original conceptual
design. After several operating years, featured by
200+ start-ups and shut-downs, the solution has
demonstrated to be an “intrinsically safe” gas cooling
Figure 2 - 3D view of the first pilot plant operating the SCT-CPO technology system with extraordinary performance regarding
built by Fores resistance to thermal gradients, process stability and
feedstock flexibility.
process). The contract included basic engineering, The 3D view of the reactor-syngas cooling system is
detail engineering, modularisation, plant skid showed in Figure 3: the 3D model design was
construction, assembly to the site, pre-commissioning carried out by Fores to achieve the best synergy in
and start-up assistance. terms of layout interoperability among the different
Despite the low detail level and the many uncertainties plant’ sections, overall process effectiveness, and
present in the conceptual engineering, the plant was easy transportability and maintenance.
designed and built in only 14 months. Fores skid-based plant design demonstrated several
The pilot plant illustrated in Figure 2 consists of all advantages, in particular for the overall project
the process and utilities units needed for the timeline thanks to a concurrent engineering mode
production of hydrogen from methane or other through, all the project execution phase and availing
hydrocarbons: a fast track delivery.
• Compression of air and methane; As a matter of fact, the plant sections, manufactured
• Methane desulphurization; in several different skids, have been pre-assembled
• Reagents pre-heating; at Fores site to carry out the factory acceptance test
• STC-CPO Reactor; and then separated in standard modules for an easy
• Syngas cooler/steam generator; transportation at the plant location for final test and
• CO-shift; operation (see Figure 4).
• Hydrogen purification by PSA;
• Hydrogen compression.
Second SCT-CPO plant with CPO

The project aimed to integrate the know-how and technology for the production and
Figure 3 - 3D view of resources of the Client and the Contractor to achieve
the reactor-syngas a higher synergy, while introducing innovative design distribution of hydrogen for Mobility
cooling system solutions for the plant critical equipment engineering
(“Zero Regio” project – 2006/2008)

After the success of the first application, Fores
engaged in a new and challenging case for the
technological development in the “Zero Regio”
project.
Although the capacity of this plant (50 Nm3/h) is 10
times lower with respect to the first plant (500
Nm3/h), the footprint of the solution is 25 times
compressed to generate a sustainable solution for
a small-scale hydrogen application. The plant was
built to generate hydrogen “on site” at a multi-fuel
distribution station, being the first Italian station also
providing hydrogen among the fuel supplies for

INDUSTRIAL PLANTS - May 2024
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