Hydrogen Production

Alternate Energy Technologies

Current global hydrogen production

 48% from natural gas

 30% from oil

 18% from coal

 4% from electrolysis of water

 Primary Uses for Hydrogen Today

 1.About half is used to produce ammonia

(NH3) fertilizer.

 2. The other half of current hydrogen

production is used to convert heavy
petroleum sources into lighter fractions
suitable for use as fuels.
Hydrogen Production Processes
 Steam Methane Reforming
 Coal Gasification
 Partial Oxidation of Hydrocarbons
 Biomass Gasification
 Biomass Pyrolysis
 Electrolysis
 Thermochemical
 Photochemical
 Photobiological
 Steam Methane Reforming
 most common method of producing
commercial bulk hydrogen.
 Most common method of producing
hydrogen used in the industrial synthesis
of ammonia.
 It is the least expensive method.
 High temperature process (700 – 1100 °C.
 Nickel based catalyst (Ni)
 The Steam Methane Reforming
Process
 At 700 – 1100 °C and in the presence of a nickel
based catalyst (Ni), steam reacts with methane
to yield carbon monoxide and hydrogen.
 CH4 + H2O → CO + 3 H2
 Additional hydrogen can be recovered by a
lower-temperature gas-shift reaction with the
carbon monoxide produced. The reaction is
summarized by:
 CO + H2O → CO2 + H2
 Purification of Hydrogen

 Carbon dioxide and other impurities are

removed from the gas stream, leaving
essentially pure hydrogen.

 Endothermic reaction (Heat must be

added to the reactants for the reaction to
occur.)
 Schematic of the SMR Process

H 2O
Water
Methane
Gasoline 10% 2,000 ppm <100 ppm
Ethanol CO CO CO
Methanol

REFOR MER REMOVAL OF CO

H2 O2
WATER GAS SHIFT FUEL CELL
AND CO2
REACTOR STACK
 Coal Gasification

 well-established commercial technology

 competitive with SMR only where oil and/or

natural gas are expensive.

 coal could replace natural gas and oil as the

primary feedstock for hydrogen production,
since it is so plentiful in the world.
 Partial Oxidation Hydrocarbons

 process can be used to produce hydrogen

from heavy hydrocarbons such as diesel
fuel and residual oil.

 Any hydrocarbon feedstock that can be

compressed or pumped may be used in
this technology.
 Partial Oxidation
 methane and other hydrocarbons in
natural gas are reacted with a limited
amount of oxygen (typically, from air) that
is not enough to completely oxidize the
hydrocarbons to carbon dioxide and water.

 CH4 + ½O2 → CO + 2H2 (+heat)

 Exothermic reaction (heat is evolved)

Schematic of Partial Oxidation

Partial Oxidation Plant Diagram

 Thermochemical Production of
Hydrogen
 When water is heated to above 2500 C, it
o

separates into oxygen and hydrogen in a

process known as thermolysis.

 However, at such high temperatures, it is

difficult to prevent the oxygen and
hydrogen from recombining to form water.
 Thermo-chemical Production of
Hydrogen
 Thermochemical water-splitting cycles can lower
the temperature and help separate oxygen and
hydrogen products to produce pure hydrogen
gas.
 These cycles can improve the efficiency of
hydrogen production from 30% for conventional
electrolysis to around 50% efficiency
 One of the most promising cycles so far is the
sulfur-iodine (S-I) cycle.
Thermo-chemical Production of
Hydrogen

 Sulfur dioxide (SO2) and iodine (I2) are fed

into the cycle as chemical catalysts..

 A catalyst lowers the activation energy of a

reaction without being used up by the
reaction.
 Sulfur-Iodine Thermochemical
Cycle
 In this cycle, sulfur dioxide (SO2) and
iodine (I2) are feed into the cycle as a
chemical catalyst.

 A catalyst lowers the temperature at which

the reaction will occur without being used
up by the reaction.
 Steps in the S-I cycle
 Step 1:

 I2 + SO2 + 2H2O 2HI + H2SO4

 The reaction is run at 120 degrees C.

 The hydrogen iodide and sulfuric acid are

separated, usually by distillation.
 Steps in the S-I cycle
 Step 2:

 Generation of oxygen and regeneration of

SO2.

 H2SO4 H2O + SO2 + 1/2 O2

 This reaction is run at 850 degrees C.

 Steps in the S-I cycle
 Step 3: Generation of hydrogen and
regeneration of I

 2HI H 2 + I2

 This reaction is run at 450 degrees C.

 Sulfur—Iodine Cycle
 These reactions can reduce the high
temperature demands of the thermolysis
of water for the production of hydrogen
gas and can provide a mechanism for the
separation of oxygen and hydrogen
products to prevent recombination.

Source: Office of Nuclear Energy, Science and Technology

 Biomass Production of Hydrogen
 Hydrogen can be produced numerous ways from
biomass.
 Biomass is defined as a renewable resource
made from renewable materials. Examples of
biomass sources include:
>switchgrass
>plant scraps
>garbage
>human wastes
 Gasification of biomass could be a way of
extracting hydrogen from these organic sources.
 Biomass Production of Hydrogen
 The biomass is first converted into a gas through high-
temperature gasifying.
 The hydrogen rich vapor is condensed in pyrolysis oils.
 These oils can be steam reformed to generate
hydrogen.
 This process has resulted in hydrogen yields of 12% -
17% hydrogen by weight of the dry biomass.
 When biological waste material is used as a feedstock,
this process becomes a completely renewable,
sustainable method of hydrogen generation.
 Electrolysis
 Electrolysis is the technical name for using electricity to
split water into its constituent elements, hydrogen and
oxygen.
 The splitting of water is accomplished by passing a DC
electric current through water.
 The electricity enters the water at the cathode, a
negatively charged terminal, passes through the water
and exists via the anode, the positively charged terminal.
 The hydrogen is collected at the cathode and the
oxygen is collected at the anode. Electrolysis produces
very pure hydrogen for use in the electronics,
pharmaceutical and food industries
 Electrolysis

 The hydrogen is collected at the cathode

and the oxygen is collected at the anode.

 Electrolysis produces very pure hydrogen

for use in the electronics, pharmaceutical
and food industries.
 Photobiological
 This method involves using sunlight, a biological
component, catalysts and an engineered system.
 Specific organisms, algae and bacteria, produce
hydrogen as a byproduct of their metabolic
processes.
 These organisms generally live in water and therefore
are biologically splitting the water into its component
elements.
 Currently, this technology is still in the research and
development stage and the theoretical sunlight
conversion efficiencies have been estimated up to
24%.