Patent ID: 8529866

Claim:
A process for the production of hydrogen by steam reforming a hydrocarbon feed, said process comprising: producing hot flue gases in a combustion chamber from a stream of air and fuel gas, pressurizing said hot flue gases in a compressor and supplying the heat of said hot flue gases to an exchanger-reactor, performing steam reforming of a hydrocarbon feed mixed with steam in said exchanger-reactor, cooling effluent synthesis gas from said exchanger-reactor in a first series of exchangers and cooling flue gases from said exchanger-reactor in another series of exchangers to generate steam which is introduced into a drum, wherein steam produced by said process is used in its entirety in said process by the following procedure: the flow of steam from said process is sent as a mixture with the hydrocarbon feed to said exchanger-reactor, wherein the flow of said steam is adjusted so that the ratio of the steam to the hydrocarbon feed is in the range 1.5 to 3; and the remaining steam produced by said process is used to supply a steam turbine associated with said compressor, the flow of air supplying said compressor ( 32 ) being controlled by means of a valve ( 36 ) placed on a line carrying said flue gases downstream of said another series of exchangers such that the operating pressure of said compressor is adjusted to between 3 and 5 bars absolute.