Towards focus and sustainability

Synthesis gas can be produced from almost any carbon source ranging from natural gas and oil products to coal and biomass by oxidation with steam and oxygen. Hence it represents a key for creating flexibility for the chemical industry and for the manufacture of synthetic fuels (synfiiels). 

The present use of syngas is primarily for the manufacture of ammonia (in 2006, 124 million tonnes per year) and of methanol (in 2005, 33 million tonnes per year), followed by the use of pure hydrogen for hydrotreating in refineries as shown in Table 1.1. 

The main commodity products based on natural gas are shown in Table 1.1 [420], It is evident that the chemical conversion of natural gas 

Yearly Product prod. (mil. t/y) Energy consumpt (GJ/t) Thermal LHV Efficiency Practical (%) Ideal (%) CO2 (t/t) Main technology 

The data in Table 1.1 show that the practical efficiencies for natural gas conversion into products are approximately 80% of the ideal values expressed as  

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