Patent ID: 8333951

Claim:
A method for producing a product gas including hydrogen, in a system, from a starting material in the form of organic substances or substance mixtures, the method comprising steps of: performing pyrolysis on the starting material in a pyrolysis zone of the system to produce solid residues containing carbon and pyrolysis gas as a volatile phase, mixing, in the system, the pyrolysis gas with steam as a reactant to form a mixture, subsequently heating in a reaction zone of the system the mixture to form a product gas, deriving at least some heat required for the pyrolysis and the subsequent heating from combustion of the solid residues containing carbon, supplying the at least some heat to the system as a bulk material serving as a heat carrier, transported in a heat carrier circuit of the system, heating the heat carrier in a heating zone of the heat carrier circuit with heating gases from the combustion of the solid residues containing carbon, subsequently bringing the heat carrier into contact with the mixture in the reaction zone to carry out the subsequent heating, then introducing at least part of a palpable heat of the heat carrier into the pyrolysis zone, subsequently passing back the heat carrier to a beginning of the heat carrier circuit via a bulk material conveyor of the system, and preheating the heat carrier in a preheating zone of the heat carrier circuit, the preheating zone being upstream from the heating zone, the preheating occurring with the product gas from the reaction zone such that the heat carrier takes up a majority of heat of the product gas, wherein the introduction of at least part of the palpable heat of the heat carrier into the pyrolysis zone occurs in that heat, from the heat carrier of the heat transfer circuit, is transferred to the starting material in the pyrolysis zone indirectly and without direct contact between the heat carrier and the starting material.