Method for ammonia decomposition using carbon material supported metal catalyst

A method for decomposing ammonia (NH3) to hydrogen (H2) and nitrogen (N2), the method comprising:

• introducing a H2-containing feed gas stream into a reactor comprising a carbon material supported metal (M-C) catalyst;
• wherein the M-C catalyst comprises a metal selected from the group consisting of ruthenium (Ru), iridium (Ir), platinum (Pt), nickel (Ni), cobalt (Co), iron (Fe), rhodium (Rh), palladium (Pd), Molybdenum (Mo), and mixtures thereof;
• passing the H2-containing feed gas stream through the reactor to contact the H2-containing feed gas stream with the M-C catalyst at a temperature of about 500° C. to form a reduced M-C catalyst;
• introducing and passing an NH3-containing feed gas stream through the reactor to contact the NH3-containing feed gas stream with the reduced M-C catalyst at a temperature of about 200 to about 600° C. thereby converting at least a portion of the NH3 to H2 and N2, regenerating the M-C catalyst to form a regenerated M-C catalyst, and producing a residue gas stream, wherein the regenerated M-C catalyst is substantially free of agglomerated particles and sintered particles;
• and
• separating the H2 from the residue gas stream to generate a H2-containing product gas stream.