SBIR Phase I: Low Cost Hydrogen and Carbon Black Co-production

This SBIR Phase I research project is to demonstrate the feasibility of one-step co-production of carbon black and hydrogen (H2) at low cost. The process converts natural gas into carbon black and H2 in a high surface area, high heat transfer reactor and should have high yield and conversion compared with the conventional thermal processes. The process employs high thermal conducting (HTC) filled spouted bed to co-produce carbon black and H2 for industrial applications. Besides the low cost carbon black production, this technology will eliminate the complexity of many process used in conventional hydrogen production, such as steam reforming and gas shift reaction, as well as pressure swing adsorption. The proposed work will increase the hydrogen quality and reduce production cost. It can also be used for many other industrial applications where high purity hydrogen is required, such as fertilizer production, fine chemical syntheses and rocket fuels.