Patent ID: 7731923

Claim:
A process for the simultaneous production of hydrogen and carbon monoxide from the hydrocarbon feedstock, said process comprising the steps of: a) generating a syngas b) decarbonizing the syngas coming from step a) in a primary decarbonation unit, forming a carbon dioxide stream and a stream containing the syngas with a reduced carbon dioxide content; c) eliminating the water and the remaining carbon dioxide that are contained in the syngas coming from step b) by passing said gas over an adsorbent bed; d) separating the remaining constituents, forming at least: i) a hydrogen product gas stream; ii) a carbon monoxide product gas stream, which further includes at least one impurity selected from nitrogen and argon; iii) a methane-rich purge gas stream; and iv) a flash gas stream containing hydrogen, CO, and methane; wherein the process further includes the following steps of: e) regenerating the adsorbent bed of step c) by passage of a regeneration gas comprising at least a nonzero proportion of the hydrogen-rich stream i); and f) recycling streams iii) and iv) coming from step d) in order to feed step a).