A comprehensive kinetic study on low-GHG hydrogen production from microwave-driven methane pyrolysis

Abstract

The present study focuses on the cogeneration of hydrogen (H2) and solid carbon from microwave-driven methane pyrolysis in a fluidized bed of carbon pellets. Numerical simulations using a coupled gas-solid chemistry approach reveal that introducing microwave thermal effects improves methane conversion rate, H2 selectivity, and carbon deposition rate. The chemical pathways analysis divulges that once the leading reaction for decomposing CH4 into H2, i.e., CH4+H ↔ CH3+H2, is completed, the C2H2 deposition mechanism onto the carbon pellets is the dominant pathway for the solid carbon production, indicating almost no carbon black (i.e., nanoparticles) formation. Carbon pellets provide abundant surface area for the conversion of C2H2 to H2, enhancing H2 selectivity in the resulting products. More importantly, the importance of more complex molecules, such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, greatly diminishes when using carbon pellets in the pyrolysis process, implying that smaller kinetic mechanisms are equally effective and desirable.