Production of mixtures of carbon monoxide and hydrogen

Claim 1

THE CONTINUOUS PROCESS FOR PRODUCING MIXTURES OF HYDROGEN AND CARBON MONOXIDE SERVING AS FEED GAS TO A HYDROCARBON SYNTHESIS PROCESS AND CONTAINING CONTROLLED MOLECULAR PROPORTIONS OF HYDROGEN FROM SOLID CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS AND STEAM WHICH COMPRISES CONTINUOUSLY FEEDING FRESH FINELY DIVIDED CARBONACEOUS SOLIDS TO A HEATED WATER GAS GENERATION ZONE, SUBJECTING SAID FINELY DIVIDED SOLID CARBONACEOUS MATERIAL, IN THE FORM OF A DENSE, TURBULENT BED OF SOLIDS FLUIDIZED BY AN UPWARDLY FLOWING GAS AND RESEMBLING A BOILING LIQUID HAVING A WELL DEFINED UPPER LEVEL, TO A WATER GAS REACTION WITH STEAM IN SAID ZONE TO PRODUCE A HOT STREAM OF WATER GAS, CONTINUOUSLY CIRCULATING SOLID CARBONACEOUS RESIDUE OF THE WATER GAS REACTION TO A HEATING ZONE AND SUBJECTING IT THEREIN IN THE FORM OF A SIMILARLY FLUIDIZED BED OF SOLIDS TO INCOMPLETE COMBUSTION WITH AIR AND STEAM TO PRODUCE A HOT COMBUSTIBLE WITH CONTAINING ABOUT 25% TO 35% OF CARBON MONOXIDE AND ABOUT 10% TO 15% HYDROGEN, CONTINUOUSLY SUPPLYING A PART OF THE HEAT GENERATED BY SAID COMBUSTION TO SAID WATER GAS REACTION IN THE FORM OF SENSIBLE HEAT SOLID COMBUSTION RESIDUE RETURNED FROM SAID HEATING ZONE TO SAID WATER GAS GENERATION ZONE, CONTINUOUSLY SUBJECTING STEAM TO A REDUCING TREATMENT AT A STEAM REDUCING TEMPERATURE WITH A FINELY DIVIDED REDUCED METAL OXIDE MAINTAINED IN A SIMILARLY FLUIDIZED BED OF SOLIDS TO FORM HYDROGEN AND FINELY DIVIDED METAL OXIDE, CONTINUOUSLY REGENERATING SAID REDUCED METAL OXIDE IN A SEPARATE RE-