Systems and methods for converting hydrocarbons to hydrogen with useful carbon by-products
AssigneeUniversity of Louisville Research Foundation, Inc.
InventorsMahendra SUNKARA, William Mark MCGINLEY, Gautam GUPTA, Abhinav NOUDURI, Bikram BHATIA
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Abstract
Systems and methods for the production of hydrogen are provided. The methods include activating hydrocarbons to produce methyl cations and hydrogen anions in a gas phase; forming hydrogen from the hydrogen anions in the gas phase; and forming carbon species from the methyl cations in the gas phase, wherein forming hydrogen and carbon species is performed in a presence of a molten metal or molten metal alloy. An integrated device for producing hydrogen is also provided.
Claims16
A method for producing hydrogen, comprising:
- activating a hydrocarbon to produce methyl cations and hydrogen anions in a gas phase;
- forming hydrogen from the hydrogen anions in the gas phase;
- and
- forming carbon species from the methyl cations in the gas phase, wherein forming hydrogen and carbon species is performed in a presence of a molten metal or molten metal alloy.
An integrated device for production of hydrogen, comprising:
- a hydrocarbon inlet;
- an excitation source configured to heat the hydrocarbon flowing in the hydrocarbon inlet to produce methyl cations and hydrogen anions;
- a reservoir for containing a molten metal or molten metal alloy, wherein the reservoir is positioned adjacent the excitation source such that hydrogen is formed from the hydrogen anions and carbon species is formed from the methyl cations while in a gas phase adjacent a surface of the molten metal or molten metal alloy;
- a collection space for collecting the carbon species;
- and
- an outlet for collecting the hydrogen.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.