Patent ID: 7163566

Claim:
A method of operating a gas generating system for generating a hydrogen-rich product gas from educts, a hydrocarbon-containing fuel, with the addition of oxygen, being converted by a catalytic partial oxidation or the hydrocarbon-containing fuel being converted with the addition of oxygen and water by autothermal reforming by catalytic water vapor reforming and catalytic partial oxidation in an at least approximately adiabatically operated reactor to hydrogen-rich product gas, said method comprising: determining a temperature of educts before they are charged into the reactor; determining a ratio of mole flow O 2 oxygen / mole flow C-atoms fuel of the educts for the educt temperatures at which theoretically a conversion of the educts takes place at a desired reaction temperature from the temperature of the educts by comparative values which assign to respective educt temperatures respective O 2 /C ratios by way of a function, a characteristic curve, or a truth table; adjusting the O 2 /C ratio according to the educt temperatures by controlling a mass flow rate of the oxygen-containing educt for a known defined mass flow rate of the hydrocarbon-containing educt and optionally water or by controlling a mass flow rate of the hydrocarbon-containing educt for a known defined mass flow rate of the oxygen-containing educt and optionally water; determining a momentary reaction temperature at an output of the reactor; computing a correction value ΔO 2 /C from a deviation of the momentary reaction temperature and the desired reaction temperature; and readjusting the O 2 /C ratio according to the computed correction value ΔO 2 /C by controlling the mass flow rate of the oxygen-containing educt for a known defined mass flow rate of the hydrocarbon-containing educt and optionally water or by controlling the mass flow rate of the hydrocarbon-containing educt for a known defined mass flow rate of the oxygen-containing educt and optionally water so as to set a corrected O 2 /C ratio only when said deviation is greater than a defined value.