Patent ID: 7261751

Claim:
A process for the production of synthesis gas comprising steps: providing a reactor system comprising: a multitude of catalytic partial oxidation zones connected in series; a plurality of oxidant gas inlets, each of oxidant gas inlet being suitable to deliver an amount of an oxygen-containing gas to at least one catalytic partial oxidation zone; and one hydrocarbon gas inlet located upstream of said multitude of catalytic partial oxidation zones, said hydrocarbon gas inlet being suitable to deliver an amount of a hydrocarbon gas to one catalytic partial oxidation zone; feeding a hydrocarbon gas through said hydrocarbon gas inlet to one catalytic partial oxidation zone, wherein the hydrocarbon gas has a hydrocarbon gas inlet temperature less than 400° C.; feeding an oxygen-containing gas through said plurality of oxidant gas inlets to the multitude of catalytic partial oxidation zones; and converting the hydrocarbon gas and oxygen in the multitude of catalytic partial oxidation zones to form a multitude of gas effluents comprising hydrogen and carbon monoxide; wherein at least one gas effluent gas has a gas temperature which is at least 550° C. greater than the hydrocarbon gas inlet temperature; wherein each gas effluent has a gas temperature less than 1300° C.; wherein unconverted hydrocarbon gas from one gas effluent of one catalytic partial oxidation zone is fed to the catalytic partial oxidation zone immediate downstream of said catalytic partial oxidation zone; and further wherein the gas effluent temperature of at least one catalytic partial oxidation zone is controlled by a method comprising these steps: a. measuring the gas effluent temperature of the at least one catalytic partial oxidation zone; b. comparing the measured gas effluent temperature to a desirable gas effluent temperature setpoint equal to or lower than 1300° C.; c. adjusting the O 2 mass flow rate of the oxygen-containing gas fed to said at least one catalytic partial oxidation zone, such as to deliver an amount of oxygen to said at least one catalytic partial oxidation zone suitable to obtain a gas effluent temperature that approaches the desirable gas effluent temperature setpoint.