Carbon neutral hydrogen production

A method comprising:

• flowing a hydrocarbon stream to a reactor, the hydrocarbon stream comprising at least one hydrocarbon;
• flowing an oxidizing stream to the reactor, the oxidizing stream comprising oxygen gas and having a molar flow rate of oxygen gas in a range of from 10% to 70% of C+H/4, wherein C is a molar flow rate of carbon (C) of the hydrocarbon stream, and H is a molar flow rate of hydrogen (H) of the hydrocarbon stream;
• combusting the hydrocarbon stream within the reactor to produce soot and syngas, wherein sub-stoichiometric combustion of the hydrocarbon stream within the reactor converts at least 20% of the carbon in the hydrocarbon stream into soot;
• separating the soot from the syngas to produce a syngas stream comprising carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and hydrogen;
• mixing the syngas stream with a steam stream to produce a hydrogenation feed stream;
• contacting the hydrogenation feed stream with a water-gas shift catalyst in a shift reactor to convert at least a portion of the carbon monoxide and steam to carbon dioxide and hydrogen to produce a shifted gas stream;
• separating water from the shifted gas stream to produce a dehydrated gas stream;
• separating the dehydrated gas stream to produce a hydrogen product stream and a recycle stream, the hydrogen product stream comprising a majority of the hydrogen from the dehydrated gas stream, and the recycle stream comprising a remainder of the dehydrated gas stream;
• and
• recycling the recycle stream to the reactor.