Patent ID: 7964176

Claim:
A process for preparing hydrogen in a fuel processor assembly comprising: (a) combining air and a combustion feed gas; (b) preheating air and the combustion feed gas in a heat exchanger with a shifted reformate to form pre-heated air, pre-heated combustion feed gas, and cooled shifted reformate; (c) combusting the preheated air and the pre-heated combustion feed gas in a catalytic combustor to form exhaust; (d) heating water with the exhaust of the catalytic combustor to form heated water; (e) pre-heating a methane-containing gas with the exhaust of the catalytic combustor to form pre-heated methane-containing gas; (f) heating the pre-heated methane-containing gas and the heated water with an unshifted reformate to form a heated methane-containing gas and a cooled unshifted reformate; (g) reforming steam and the heated methane-containing gas in a reforming reactor to form the unshifted reformate; and (h) reacting the cooled unshifted reformate in a water gas shift reactor according to a water gas shift reaction to form the shifted reformate.