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Hydrogen Production. Hocking College Nelsonville, Ohio. One Advantage of using hydrogen.
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Hydrogen Production Hocking College Nelsonville, Ohio
One Advantage of using hydrogen • One advantage is that it stores approximately 2.6 times the energy per unit mass as gasoline, and the disadvantage is that it needs about 4 times the volume for a given amount of energy. A 15 gallon automobile gasoline tank contains 90 pounds of gasoline. The corresponding hydrogen tank would be 60 gallons, but the hydrogen would weigh only 34 pounds.
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.)
H2O Water Methane Gasoline Ethanol Methanol <100ppm CO 2,000ppm CO 10% CO REFOR MER H2 O2 WATER GAS SHIFT REACTOR REMOVAL OF CO AND CO2 FUEL CELL STACK Schematic of the SMR Process
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 oC, it 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.
Thermochemical 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.
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.
There are three 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.
Step 2: • Generation of oxygen and regeneration of SO2. • H2SO4 H2O + SO2 + 1/2 O2 • This reaction is run at 850 degrees C.
Step 3: Generation of hydrogen and regeneration of I • 2HI H2 + 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%.