Production of gas mixtures containing carbon monoxide and hydrogen

Claim 1

AN IMPROVED PROCESS FOR MANUFACTURING A GASEOUS FUEL CONTAINING PREDOMINANTLY H2 AND CO, WHICH COMPRISES CONTINUOUSLY FORCING A HYDROCARBON GAS PREDOMINANTLY METHANE INTO A CONVERSION ZONE CONTAINING A FLUIDIZED MASS OF A FINELY-DIVIDED METAL OXIDE ADAPTED TO CONVERT SAID HYDROCARBON GAS TO HYDROGEN AND CO, MAINTAINING A TEMPERATURE WITHIN SAID CONVERSION ZONE WITHIN THE RANGE OF FROM ABOUT 1400* TO 1600* F., PERMITTING CONTACT BETWEEN SAID GASEOUS HYDROCARBON AND SAID FLUIDIZED METAL OXIDE FOR A SUFFICIENT PERIOD OF TIME TO PERMIT AT LEAST PARTIAL CONVERSION OF SAID HYDROCARBON GAS INTO H2 AND CO, WITHDRAWING A PRODUCE CONTAINING SAID H2 AND CO AND HYDROCARBON UNREACTED GAS, AND ALSO ENTRAINED METAL-CONTAINING FINES, FROM SAID CONVERSION ZONE, CHARGING SAID GAS TO A SECOND ZONE, CONTACTING SAID GAS WITH SUBSTANTIALLY PURE OXYGEN IN SAID SECOND ZONE SUFFICIENT IN AMOUNT SUBSTANTIALLY COMPLETELY TO CONVERT SAID UNREACTED HYDROCARBON GAS INTO H2 AND CO, AND TO SINTER AND AGGLOMERATE METAL-CONTAINING PARTICLES, BY MAINTAINING IN SAID LAST NAMED ZONE A TEMPERATURE WITHIN THE RANGE OF FROM ABOUT 2000* TO 2500* F., AND WITHDRAWING FROM SAID SECOND ZONE A PRODUCT GAS SUBSTANTIALLY FREE OF HYDROCARBONS AND ALSO RECOVERING FROM SAID SECOND ZONE THE SINTERED AND AGGLOMERATED METAL-CONTAINING FINES.