Syngas Production Using Natural Gas from the Environmental Point of View

The search for clean and low-cost fuels as alternative for petroleum is a popular research focus in the energy field. The demand of natural gas as an energy source has increased steadily. The high H:C ratio and the absence of heteroatoms make natural gas an attractive feedstock for synthetic fuels and chemicals that can replace those that are typically petroleum-derived. The search for efficient routes to convert methane to other higher added-value products is a challenge for the scientific community. In addition, new fields of oil and gas contain associated CO2 (8–18%), and, in some specific fields, the associated gas encloses a higher CO2 content (79%). In this context, the tri-reforming process combines two of the most problematic greenhouse gases (CH4 and CO2) to generate syngas for the synthesis of clean liquid fuels and valuable chemicals. Developments in tri-reforming processes, which include the new catalysts, are presented in this chapter