Chapter 4 - The production and uses of hydrogen

Abstract

This chapter describes some of the traditional methods used for the production of hydrogen and then features some of its uses, highlighting the important role that hydrogen can play as a means of mitigating the emission of greenhouse gases, especially CO2. The industrial process for the steam reforming of natural gas is discussed in detail and then a description is given of variants of that process, including the use of microreactors and membrane reactors. This is followed by a brief description of the autoreforming, dry reforming and pyrolysis of methane as alternative means of producing syngas mixtures before discussing the potential of hydrolysis of water as a green route to hydrogen. The chapter ends with a brief mention of the production of hydrogen from biomass and a more detailed discussion of several industrial processes using either hydrogen or syngas: methanol synthesis, the Fischer Tropsch synthesis of hydrocarbons and ammonia synthesis.