Patent ID: 7871577

Claim:
An apparatus for the production of higher molecular weight hydrocarbon compounds or oxygenates from a gas comprising methane, said apparatus comprising: a syngas generation system configured to generate syngas comprising carbon monoxide and hydrogen by reaction of the gas comprising methane with steam and an oxidant gas comprising oxygen, wherein heat for endothermic syngas generation is produced by exothermic reaction of the gas comprising methane with the oxidant gas; a syngas conversion system configured to convert syngas into higher molecular weight hydrocarbon compounds or oxygenates and producing offgas comprising unreacted hydrogen and unreacted carbon monoxide; a cryogen separation system configured to separate unreacted hydrogen from said offgas or a gas derived therefrom to produce separated hydrogen product that is substantially free of unreacted carbon monoxide and a first cryogenic liquid comprising unreacted carbon monoxide and unreacted hydrogen, the cryogen separation system being a first liquid methane wash column; a second liquid methane wash column configured to separate unreacted hydrogen from said first cryogenic liquid or a cryogenic liquid derived therefrom to produce separated hydrogen fuel by-product and a second cryogenic liquid comprising unreacted carbon monoxide; a nitrogen rejection column configured to separate nitrogen from said second cryogenic liquid to produce a third cryogenic liquid; a cryogenic distillation column configured to separate unreacted carbon monoxide from said third cryogenic liquid to produce separated carbon monoxide product and substantially carbon monoxide-free cryogenic liquid; a conduit for feeding separated carbon-monoxide product from said cryogenic distillation column to said syngas conversion system; and a conduit located above a bottom of the cryogenic distillation column for removing an argon-enriched sidestream from the cryogenic distillation column.