Compact chemical reaction vessel

Claim 1

A vessel for catalytically reforming raw hydrocarbon fuels, said vessel comprising: (a) a housing having a cylindrical side wall; (b) burner means in said housing on the axis thereof for heating the interior of the housing, said burner means including a tubular refractory heat shield into which heat is propagated by said burner means; (c) means forming an annular catalyst bed in said housing, said catalyst bed being radially outwardly spaced from and surrounding said tubular heat shield, and radially inwardly spaced from and surrounded by said cylindrical side wall of said housing; (d) a plurality of circumferentially spaced heat tubes extending through said catalyst bed for ducting hot gases from said burner means through interior portions of said catalyst bed to heat the latter from the inside; (e) means for admitting raw liquid hydrocarbon fuel to a heated area in said vessel adjacent to said catalyst bed for vaporization of the raw fuel and subsequent percolation of the vaporized fuel through said catalyst bed to reform the raw fuel to a hydrogen-rich fuel gas; (f) means for collecting reformed fuel gas from said catalyst bed for subsequent use; and (g) heat exhaust means for exhausting hot burner gases through said heat tubes, through a first heating zone between said catalyst bed and said tubular heat shield, and through a second heating zone between said catalyst bed and said housing cylindrical side wall to a location outside said vessel.