 There are four main sources for the

commercial production of hydrogen:

 natural gas, oil, coal, and electrolysis;
 which account for 48%, 30%, 18%
and 4% of the world’s hydrogen
production respectively.
 Thermochemical Processes
 Thermochemical processes use heat and
chemical reactions to release hydrogen from
organic materials such as fossil fuels and
biomass.
 Some thermal processes use the energy in
various resources, such as natural gas, coal, or
biomass, to release hydrogen from their
molecular structure.
 In other processes, heat, in combination with
closed-chemical cycles, produces hydrogen from
feedstocks such as water.
 Steam Reforming
 For this process high temperature (700–1100 °C) steam
(H2O) reacts with methane (CH4) in an endothermic
reaction to yield syngas.
CH4 + H2O + heat → CO + 3 H2
 In a second stage, additional hydrogen is generated
through the lower-temperature, exothermic, water gas
shift reaction, performed at about 360 °C:
CO + H2O → CO2 + H2 + heat
 Essentially, the oxygen (O) atom is stripped from the
additional water (steam) to oxidize CO to CO2. This
oxidation also provides energy to maintain the reaction.
Additional heat required to drive the process is generally
supplied by burning some portion of the methane.
Direct Solar Water Splitting Processes
 Direct solar water splitting, or photolytic,
processes use light energy to split water into
hydrogen and oxygen.
 These processes are currently in the very early
stages of research but offer long-term potential
for sustainable hydrogen production with low
environmental impact.
 Biological Processes
 Microbes such as bacteria and microalgae can
produce hydrogen through biological reactions,
using sunlight or organic matter.
 These technology pathways are at an early
stage of research, but in the long term have
the potential for sustainable, low-carbon
hydrogen production.
 Hydrogen:

 Hydrogen has the highest energy content per unit of mass of

any chemical fuel
 It can substitute for hydrocarbons in a broad range of
application
 Its combustion efficiency is higher
 It can be used as fuel directly or can be used as a raw material
to produce methanol, ammonia, or hydrocarbons by using
either carbon dioxide or nitrogen from the atmosphere.
 Hydrogen is chemically very reactive and hence it is not found
in its free state on the earth.
At standard temperature and pressure,
 hydrogen is a colorless
 tasteless
 odorless gas
 Hydrogen gas is highly flammable and will burn in air
in concentrations between 4% and 75% by volume
 Hydrogen is not toxic, but in its pure form is a chemical
asphyxiant.
An asphyxiant gas is a nontoxic or minimally toxic gas which reduces or
displaces the normal oxygen concentration in breathing air. Breathing of
oxygen-depleted air can lead to death by asphyxiation (suffocation).
 Hydrogen gas leaking into air may spontaneously
ignite
 Electrolysis:
 A source of direct current voltage is connected to the
electrodes so that an electric current flows through the
electrolyte from the positive electrode (or anode) to the
negative electrode (or cathode).
 As a result the water in the electrolyte solution is
decomposed into hydrogen gas (H2) which is released at the
cathode and oxygen gas (O2) is released at the anode.
 KOH solution (electrolyte) is required because water is very
poor conductor of electricity.
 Ideally, a voltage of 1.23 volts should be sufficient for the
electrolysis of water at normal temperature and pressure.
 The rate of hydrogen production is proportional to the
current strength, a high operating current density is
necessary for economic reasons.
 Theoretically, 2.8 kW-hr of electrical energy should produce
one cu.m of hydrogen gas.
 Hydrogen storage methods:
 Compressed gas storage
 Liquid storage (cryogenic storage in vacuum
insulated or super insulated tank)
 Line pack system ( allowing the pressure in the
transmission or distribution system to vary)
 Underground storage ( in depleted oil and gas fields
or in aquifer systems)
 Storage as metal hydrides.