Process and system for steel and hydrogen production using recycled ferrous scrap and natural gas
AssigneePalo Alto Research Center Incorporated
InventorsDivyaraj Desai, Jessica Louis Baker Rivest, Dane Andrew Boysen, Rahul Pandey, Eugene Shin Ming Beh
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Abstract
A method for producing a homogenous molten composition and a fluid product is disclosed. For example, the method includes producing a first molten metal composition in an enclosed volume, contacting a hydrocarbon reactant with the first molten metal composition, decomposing the hydrocarbon reactant into at least one fluid product and carbon, forming a metal alloy from a mixture of the carbon and the first molten metal composition, and separating a homogenous second molten composition from the metal alloy.
Claims9
A method for producing a homogeneous molten composition and a fluid product, comprising:
- producing a first molten metal composition in an enclosed volume, wherein the first molten metal composition comprises iron and a metal, wherein the metal comprises at least one of:
- iron, nickel, manganese, cobalt, scandium, or lanthanum;
- contacting a hydrocarbon reactant with the first molten metal composition;
- decomposing the hydrocarbon reactant into at least one fluid product and carbon in a solid phase;
- dissolving the carbon in the solid phase into the first molten metal to form a metal alloy from a mixture of the carbon and the first molten metal composition;
- separating a homogenous second molten composition from the metal alloy;
- and
- removing the at least one fluid product and the homogenous second molten composition from the enclosed volume.
A method for producing a powdered carbon- containing alloy and hydrogen, comprising:
- heating iron that is comminuted and a metal inside of an enclosed volume to produce a first molten alloy comprising iron and the metal, wherein the metal comprises at least one of:
- iron, nickel, manganese, cobalt, scandium, or lanthanum;
- feeding methane gas into the enclosed volume;
- heating the enclosed volume to approximately 1000 to 1500 degrees Celsius to decompose the methane gas into a carbon saturated ternary alloy and hydrogen gas via dissolving carbon in a solid phase formed from pyrolysis of the methane gas in a presence of the first molten alloy into the first molten alloy, wherein the carbon saturated ternary alloy comprises the iron, the carbon, and at most 1 atomic percent of the metal;
- phase-separating the carbon saturated ternary alloy into a carbon-containing alloy and the metal;
- and
- removing the hydrogen gas and the carbon saturated ternary alloy from the enclosed volume.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.