Carbon-Monoxide-Free Hydrogen Production from Natural Gas

75585-The U.S. uses over 3.5 trillion cubic feet of hydrogen annually. This project will demonstrate the feasibility of producing low-cost hydrogen from natural gas by eliminating the expensive catalyst and complex CO removal processes in conventional hydrogen production. The process will increase hydrogen quality, reduce the production cost, and be more competitive. Furthermore, the process will be environmentally benign, requiring no expensive CO2 sequestration step. The key will be the use of a low-cost catalytic process for high purity hydrogen production, replacing the conventional process, which is both energy and capital intensive. Phase I will demonstrate feasibility, estimate the economic and energy saving, and assess the environmental benefit. Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by the awardee: The immediate application of this technology should be the generation of high purity CO-free hydrogen for fuel cell applications. In addition, it can be used for many other industrial applications where high purity hydrogen is required, including fertilizer production, gasoline reforming, fine chemical syntheses, and rocket fuels.