Patent ID: 8337757

Claim:
A method for controlling the operating temperature of a reactor in a catalytic partial oxidation process, the method comprising: a) feeding a mixture comprising a flow of air and a flow of a liquid distillate fuel through a spray nozzle into the reactor and reacting said mixture in a catalytic partial oxidation process to convert said mixture into a product mixture comprising hydrogen and carbon monoxide, wherein the reactor comprises a wire mesh substrate coated with rhodium supported on an alumina washcoat; b) maintaining a maximum observed operating temperature within the reactor at a temperature of less than 1100° C.; c) maintaining a minimum observed operating temperature within the reactor at a temperature greater than the threshold temperature for coking; d) varying the flow or air, or varying the flow of liquid distillate fuel, or alternately varying the flow of air and the flow of liquid distillate fuel so as to maintain in the mixture fed to the reactor a ratio of oxygen atoms in the air to carbon atoms in the fuel within a range of 1.0-1.2 while maintaining a temperature differential between the maximum observed operating temperature and the minimum observed operating temperature of less than 350° C.