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Abstract

A process starting from a hydrocarbon feedstock, and aiming to produce a synthesis gas suitable either for methanol synthesis or for other applications requiring a low H.sub.2 /CO ratio. In this process, the feedstock, supposed to be desulfurized, is divided into two fractions; a first fraction undergoes a primary steam reforming at high pressure and moderate temperature; the gas effluent from said primary steam reforming, as well as the second fraction of the feedstock, are combined and subsequently undergo a secondary reforming by reaction with an oxygen-containing gas in a reactor operating under essentially adiabatic conditions. The synthesis gas, obtained as effluent from said secondary reforming, has a composition adjustable at will in a wide range, and therefore can be made as close as necessary to the stoichiometric composition required for methanol synthesis, or it can be made with a low H.sub.2 /CO ratio for other applications. The synthesis gas is available at high pressure, and can therefore feed directly, without compression, the synthesis loops downstream. The process of the present invention is particularly suitable for methanol production on a very large scale.

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First Claim