Use of a fuel cell to decarbonize a hydrocarbon cracking system

A process comprising:

• cracking a hydrocarbon in a hydrocarbon cracking system to produce a first cracking product stream;
• separating the first cracking product stream into a hydrogen-rich methane stream and one or more second cracking product streams;
• separating the hydrogen-rich methane stream into a hydrogen product stream and a methane product stream;
• introducing at least a portion of the hydrogen product stream to a furnace of the hydrocarbon cracking system, wherein the hydrocarbon is cracked in the hydrocarbon cracking system by combusting the at least a portion of the hydrogen product stream in the furnace of the hydrocarbon cracking system;
• introducing the methane product stream to a steam methane reformer;
• converting the methane to hydrogen in the steam methane reformer to produce a reformer product stream;
• introducing the reformer product stream to an anode chamber of a fuel cell;
• introducing an oxygen-containing stream to a cathode chamber of the fuel cell, wherein the fuel cell has an assembly comprising an anode and a cathode that are separated by a separating element;
• and
• converting, at the anode of the fuel cell, methane and hydrogen received from the reformer product stream to carbon dioxide and water to generate electricity.