Hydrogen Production

Hocking College Nelsonville, Ohio

One Advantage of using hydrogen

1.

One advantage is that it stores approximately .! times the energy per unit mass as gasoline, and the disadvantage is that it needs a"out # times the volume for a given amount of energy. A 1$ gallon automo"ile gasoline tank contains %& pounds of gasoline. 'he corresponding hydrogen tank (ould "e !& gallons, "ut the hydrogen (ould (eigh only )# pounds.

Current glo"al hydrogen production

#*+ from natural gas )&+ from oil 1*+ from coal #+ from

electrolysis of (ater

Primary ,ses for Hydrogen 'oday

1.

A"out half is used to produce ammonia -NH). fertili/er. . 'he other half of current hydrogen production is used to convert heavy petroleum sources into lighter fractions suita"le 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 "ulk hydrogen. 0ost common method of producing hydrogen used in the industrial synthesis of ammonia. 1t is the least expensive method. High temperature process -2&& 3 11&& 4C. Nickel "ased catalyst -Ni.

'he 5team 0ethane 6eforming Process

At 2&& 3 11&& 4C and in the presence of a nickel "ased catalyst -Ni., steam reacts (ith methane to yield car"on monoxide and hydrogen.

CH# 7 H O 8 CO 7 ) H

Additional hydrogen can "e recovered "y a lo(er9temperature gas9shift reaction (ith the car"on monoxide produced. 'he reaction is summari/ed "y:

CO 7 H O 8 CO 7 H

Purification of Hydrogen
Car"on dioxide and other impurities are

removed from the gas stream, leaving essentially pure hydrogen.

;ndothermic reaction -Heat must "e

added to the reactants for the reaction to occur..

5chematic of the 506 Process

H2O
Water Methane Gaso ine Ethano Methano
REFOR MER 10% CO 2,000 ppm CO <100 ppm CO

WATER GAS SHIFT REACTOR

REMOVAL OF CO AND CO2

H2

F!EL CELL STAC"

O2

Coal <asification

(ell9esta"lished commercial technology competitive (ith 506 only (here 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 (orld.

Partial Oxidation Hydrocarbons

process can "e used to produce hydrogen

from heavy hydrocar"ons such as diesel fuel and residual oil.

Any hydrocar"on feedstock that can "e

compressed or pumped may "e used in this technology.

Partial Oxidation
methane and other hydrocar"ons in

natural gas are reacted (ith a limited amount of oxygen -typically, from air. that is not enough to completely oxidi/e the hydrocar"ons to car"on dioxide and (ater. 7 >O 8 CO 7 H -7heat.

CH#

;xothermic reaction -heat is evolved.

5chematic of Partial Oxidation

Partial Oxidation Plant ?iagram

'hermochemical Production of Hydrogen

@hen (ater is heated to a"ove

$&& oC, it separates into oxygen and hydrogen in a process kno(n as thermolysis.

Ho(ever, at such high temperatures, it is

difficult to prevent the oxygen and hydrogen from recom"ining to form (ater.

'hermochemical Production of Hydrogen

'hermochemical (ater9splitting cycles can lo(er the temperature and help separate oxygen and hydrogen products to produce pure hydrogen gas. 'hese cycles can improve the efficiency of hydrogen production from )&+ for conventional electrolysis to around $&+ efficiency One of the most promising cycles so far is the sulfur9iodine -591. cycle.

 5ulfur dioxide -5O

. and iodine -1 . are fed into the cycle as chemical catalysts..

A catalyst lo(ers the activation energy of

a reaction (ithout "eing used up "y the reaction.

5ulfur91odine 'hermochemical Cycle

1n this cycle, sulfur dioxide -5O . and

iodine -1 . are feed into the cycle as a chemical catalyst.

A catalyst lo(ers the temperature at (hich

the reaction (ill occur (ithout "eing used up "y the reaction.

'here are three steps in the 591 cycle

5tep 1: 1

7 5O 7 H O

H1 7 H 5O# & degrees C.

'he reaction is run at 1

'he hydrogen iodide and sulfuric acid are

separated, usually "y distillation.

 5tep

<eneration of oxygen and regeneration of

5O .

H 5O#

H O 7 5O 7 1= O

'his reaction is run at *$& degrees C.

 5tep ): <eneration of hydrogen and

regeneration of 1

H1

H 71

'his reaction is run at #$& degrees C.

5ulfurA1odine Cycle
'hese reactions can reduce the high

temperature demands of the thermolysis of (ater for the production of hydrogen gas and can provide a mechanism for the separation of oxygen and hydrogen products to prevent recom"ination.

5ource: Office of Nuclear ;nergy, 5cience and 'echnology

Biomass Production of Hydrogen

Hydrogen can "e produced numerous (ays from "iomass. Biomass is defined as a rene(a"le resource made from rene(a"le materials. ;xamples of "iomass sources include: Cs(itchgrass Cplant scraps Cgar"age Chuman (astes <asification of "iomass could "e a (ay of extracting hydrogen from these organic sources.

Biomass Production of Hydrogen

'he "iomass is first converted into a gas through high9temperature gasifying. 'he hydrogen rich vapor is condensed in pyrolysis oils. 'hese oils can "e steam reformed to generate hydrogen. 'his process has resulted in hydrogen yields of 1 + 9 12+ hydrogen "y (eight of the dry "iomass. @hen "iological (aste material is used as a feedstock, this process "ecomes a completely rene(a"le, sustaina"le method of hydrogen generation.

;lectrolysis

;lectrolysis is the technical name for using electricity to split (ater into its constituent elements, hydrogen and oxygen. 'he splitting of (ater is accomplished "y passing a ?C electric current through (ater. 'he electricity enters the (ater at the cathode, a negatively charged terminal, passes through the (ater and exists via the anode, the positively charged terminal. 'he hydrogen is collected at the cathode and the oxygen is collected at the anode. ;lectrolysis produces very pure hydrogen for use in the electronics, pharmaceutical and food industries

;lectrolysis
'he hydrogen is collected at the cathode

and the oxygen is collected at the anode.

;lectrolysis produces very pure hydrogen

for use in the electronics, pharmaceutical and food industries.

Photo"iological

'his method involves using sunlight, a "iological component, catalysts and an engineered system. 5pecific organisms, algae and "acteria, produce hydrogen as a "yproduct of their meta"olic processes. 'hese organisms generally live in (ater and therefore are "iologically splitting the (ater into its component elements. Currently, this technology is still in the research and development stage and the theoretical sunlight conversion efficiencies have "een estimated up to #+.