The H₂ economy is a significant initiative for both government and industry due to the need to reduce point source GHG emissions and achieve a clean energy future. One of the major obstacles hampering its industrialization is the poor management of heat energy, both input and loss, which impacts scalability and cost.

NETL’s pyrolysis reactor “train” technology provides a direct solution for thermal management and, in turn, enables a process that results in carbon collection while producing pure H₂ steam. The process generates near zero CO₂ emissions and zero greenhouse gas emissions. This unique pyrolysis reactor “train” consists of four individual reactors with inherent thermal management. NG is fed into the reactor train that houses an active catalyst to ultimately create value added carbon and H₂. Heat is added via a fired heater which burns utility H₂, and thermal energy is transferred to specific areas in the reactor train for thermal maintenance and emission-free operation. Excess heat from the reactor train is routed it into a heat recovery cycle, where the heat is converted to utility electricity to power the system, making for an energy-efficient process.