Patent ID: 7919057

Claim:
A process for producing a hydrogen-containing gas, the process comprising: combusting a first fuel and a first oxidant gas external to a plurality of reformer tubes in a first section of a reformer to form a first combustion product gas mixture and heat the plurality of reformer tubes; reacting a heated feed comprising methane and steam in an adiabatic reactor containing a reforming catalyst under reaction conditions sufficient to form an intermediate product gas mixture; combusting a second fuel and a second oxidant gas in a furnace thereby forming a flame and generating a second combustion product gas mixture; heating the intermediate product gas mixture in a heat exchange tube in the furnace to form a heated intermediate product gas mixture by indirectly transferring heat between the second combustion product gas mixture and the intermediate product gas mixture wherein heat is not transferred to the heat exchange tube by direct radiation from the flame; and reacting the heated intermediate product gas mixture in the plurality of reformer tubes under reaction conditions sufficient to form the hydrogen-containing gas; wherein the step of heating the intermediate product gas mixture does not comprise indirectly transferring heat between the first combustion product gas mixture and the intermediate product gas mixture.