Novel Electrified Thermal Hydrogen Production Approaches

Henok Atile Kibret(1), Javad Vahabzadeh Pasikhani(1), Abdelrahman I. Hussain(1), Mohammad Khodabandehloo(1), Fatemeh Vatankhah(1), Jaber Shabanian(1), Jamal Chaouki(1,2,†)   1.- Process Engineering Advanced Research Lab (PEARL), Department of Chemical Engineering, Polytechnique Montreal, P. O. Box 6079, Station Centre-Ville, Montreal, Quebec, H3C 3A7 Canada 2.- University Mohamed VI Polytechnique, Benguerir, Morocco 2025-07-25

Abstract

In this study, we investigated four advanced electrification-based hydrogen (H2) production approaches, including direct Joule heating-assisted steam methane (CH4) reforming (DJH-SMR), microwave (MW) heating-assisted chemical looping dry reforming of CH4 (MWH-CLDRM), microwave heating-assisted CH4 thermal pyrolysis (MWH-MTP), and microwave heating-assisted low-density polyethylene (MWH-LDPE) pyrolysis. In the DJH-SMR, we employed an electrically conductive catalyst in a fluidized bed and achieved 96% CH4 conversion with H2/CO ratio of over 3 (CO is the carbon monoxide) at bulk temperature Tb of 900°C and steam-to-carbon molar ratio of 1. In the MWH-CLDRM, we leveraged MW irradiations to selectively heat magnetite (Fe3O4), achieved 97% CH4 conversion at Tb of 800°C in the fuel (reducer) reactor with an H2/CO ratio of 2, while suppressed coke formation. With the MWH-MTP, we demonstrated 23% CH4 conversion at Tb of 1065°C with 98% H2 selectivity, while capturing 90% of produced solid carbon. The MWH-LDPE pyrolysis over an iron-nickel-alumina catalyst at Tb yielded 72% H2 and 52% of carbon nanotubes. Obtained results highlighted the DJH-SMR's potential for H2-rich streams, MWH-CLDRM's suitability for Fischer-Tropsch applications, MWH-MTP's promise for CO-free H2 production when powered by renewable electricity, and MWH-LDPE pyrolysis's dual benefit of waste valorization and H2 generation. Each approach exhibits high performance and scalability.

Key words: Electrified thermal hydrogen production, direct Joule heating, microwave heating, methane pyrolysis, chemical looping dry reforming of methane, plastic waste pyrolysis.

References

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