Principles of Syngas and Hydrogen Production

With gaseous and liquid hydrocarbons and alcohols as well as carbohydrate feedstock, there are many process options for syngas and hydrogen production. They are 

The following equations represent the possible reactions in different processing steps involving four representative fuels natural gas (CH4) and liquefied propane gas (LPG) for stationary applications, liquid hydrocarbon fuels (CmHn) and methanol (MeOH) and other alcohols for mobile applications, and coal gasification for large-scale industrial applications for syngas and hydrogen production. Most reactions (Eqs. 1.1-1.14 and 1.19-1.21) require (or can be promoted by) specific catalysts and process conditions. Some reactions (Eqs. 1.15-1.18 and 1.22) are undesirable but may occur under certain conditions. 

Reforming or gasification produces syngas whose H2/CO ratio depends on the feedstock and process conditions such as feed steam/carbon ratio and reaction temperature and pressure. Water-gas shift reaction can further increase the H2/CO ratio of syngas produced from coal to the desired range for conversion to liquid fuels. This reaction is also an important step for hydrogen production in commercial hydrogen plants, ammonia plants, and methanol plants that use natural gas or coal as feedstock. 

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