Optimum feed temperature equilibrium conversion

Process waste-heat boilers then cool the reformed gas to about 371°C while generating high-pressure steam. The cooled gas-stream mixture enters a two-stage shift converter. The purpose of shift conversion is to convert CO to C02 and produce an equivalent amount of H2 by the reaction CO+H20 C02 + H2. Since the reaction rate in the shift converter is favored by high temperatures, but equilibrium is favored by low temperatures, two conversion stages, each with a different catalyst provide the optimum conditions for maximum CO shift. Gas from the shift converter is rhe raw synthesis gas, which, after purification, becomes the feed to the NH3 synthesis section. 

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