Demand and supply of hydrogen as chemical feedstock in the U.S.A.

Abstract

This paper is a summary of the presentations and discussions of the workshop on “Supply and Demand of Hydrogen as Chemical Feedstock,” held at the University of Houston, 12–14 December 1977. Projections are made for the demand and supply of hydrogen as chemical feedstock in the U.S.A. Industrial sectors considered are petroleum refining, ammonia synthesis, methanol production, isocyanate manufacture, edible oil processing, coal liquefaction, fuel cell electricity generation, and direct iron reduction. Presently, almost all the hydrogen required is produced by the reforming of natural gas or petroleum fractions. Specific needs and emphasis are recommended for future reseach and development to produce hydrogen from other sources, such as coal and nonfossil systems, to meet the requirements of these industrial sectors. The research described in this paper was carried out for and sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, Division of Energy Storage Systems. The Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, acted as technical monitor.