Opportunity

Hydrogen is an important chemical mainly used in production of ammonia for fertilizers. In the United States, more than 95% of hydrogen generated is produced by steam methane reforming of natural gas, which is energetically expensive. To address this problem, the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) has developed advanced catalysts for methane pyrolysis, aimed at producing hydrogen more efficiently. The catalysts are composed of transition metals (i.e., nickel, cobalt, molybdenum, manganese, and/or zinc) substitutions within our iron-alumina formulations and calcined at temperatures exceeding 1,150°C. These catalysts demonstrate improved performance over previous formulations, achieving methane to hydrogen conversion rates close to 100% in both fixed- and fluidized-bed reactor tests. Further, these new catalysts reduce the need for methane/hydrogen separation units, thereby lowering production costs. This invention is available for licensing and/or further collaborative research from NETL.