Lília Fernanda Cardoso Souza
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Natália De Mello Esteves
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João Paulo Covre
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Rosenir Rita de Cassia Moreira da Silva
Abstract: A growing interest in hydrogen use has been observed due to its environmentally friendlycharacteristics. However, the current methods of hydrogen production from natural gas are based on steammethane reforming, partial oxidation, and autothermal reforming. These processes produce a mixture ofhydrogen and carbon oxides and after water-gas shift reactions, in order to increase the production ofhydrogen, a large amount of CO2 is generated and possibly released in the atmosphere. In this context, thecatalytic methane decomposition has been receiving attention as an alternative route to the production ofCOx-free hydrogen. It has been reported that the appropriate group of catalysts and reactors can lead to aviable process. Current investigations attempt to increase the yield of hydrogen. The present work aims toevaluate the processes currently used for that and to present the preliminary results obtained with cobaltcatalysts for methane decomposition. A comparison between the conventional processes and the suggestedones is made, and the major advantages in the use of methane decomposition are presented.
HYDROGEN PRODUCTION – AN ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUE
