Hydrogen

Production
The Energy of Tomorrow
Grounded by
The Technology of Today
One of the greatest problems facing the development of hydrogen-
powered cars remains the production of hydrogen.

With the technology that we currently possess, hydrogen

production is either expensive and impractical or just as bad
for the environment as current fossil fuels.

Scientists continue to work on new and viable means of producing

energy-usable hydrogen.
 STEAM
REFORMING

 Steam RefoRming
“Hydrogen! Hydrogen! My planet for some hydrogen!”

The most widely used means of practical hydrogen

production is through steam reforming.

Steam reforming involves reacting methane with

steam at high temperatures (750°-800° C).

This produces a synthesis gas made up of H2 and

 Carbon Monoxide 
 Steam RefoRming cont.
To convert the CO into further Hydrogen, the steam reforming process
has a second step, in which the Carbon Monoxide is reacted with
steam over a nickel catalyst.

This second steaming occurs in two stages: The High Temperature

Shift, which occurs at temperatures of 350° C, and the Low
Temperature Shift, which occurs at 210° C.
The by-product?
 CARBON DIOXIDE 
 Steam RefoRming:
THE EQUATION
Part 1
CH4+H2O —» CO + 3H2

To produce more hydrogen from the Carbon Monoxide

Part 2
CO + H2O —» CO2 + H2
ELECTROLYSIS

+
 Electrolysis
E for effort

A f urther m
eans of Hydrogen producti on
i s ELECTROLYSIS.

El ectrol ysi s i s the process i n whi ch an

i oni c compound i s broken down i nto
i ts com ponent el ements by passi ng an
el ectri c current through i t.
 Electrolysis cont.
This process can be used to break down
water into hydrogen and oxygen.

The equation is below:

2H2O — » 2H2 + O2
 Problems with Electrolysis
The main problem with electrolysis is that it is
adapted only to small quantities of water,
completely impractical for powering a fuel cell.

For it to be viable, there would need to be vast

leaps in the field of maximizing electrolysis
output while miniaturizing the process.
BACTERIA


In the Future . . .
 Bacteria
It’s coming . . . We swear . . .

An experimental, but very promising prospect in

hydrogen production is in harnessing
hydrogen-producing bacteria.

The advantage of this process would be that

the only fuel source that would have to be
stored would be the alimentation of the
bacteria.
Some promising examples of research in this
field are . . .
 Modified E. Coli Virus

On January 31, 2008, it was announced in

Science Daily that Thomas Wood, a Professor at
Texas A&M, had genetically modified a sample
of E. Coli virus to produce Hydrogen gas when
fed natural sugars from corn crops.
The current form of this virus can produce
140 times the amount produced by normal
nitrogen-fixing process.
Professor Wood continues to work on these
specimens, with the goal of improving the output
of the virus with a smaller input of sugar.
 Ni t r ogen- f i xi ng bact er i a

A mor e down- t o- ear t h bact er i a f uel i s

t he use of ni t r ogen- f i xi ng bact er i a.
The pr ocess of ni t r ogen f i xat i on i s a
vi t al par t of pl ant gr owt h, and
pr oduces hydr ogen among ot her pr oduct s.
Technol ogy f or i dent i f yi ng t hi s
bact er i a i s pat ent pendi ng.
 CONCLUSION
The technology to produce viable hydrogen has
been around for a long time.
The technology to produce viable hydrogen practically
and eco-neutrally
is a long way away.
Barring an unexpected leap forward in human
thinking and scientific process, usable methods
of hydrogen production are due around 2012.