Hydrogen production by decomposition of hydrocarbons over Ni/Ca/carbon catalysts using membrane-type reactor

In order to clarify the effectiveness of the Ni/Ca/carbon catalyst/Ag-Pd me mbrane-type reactor (PMR) system on decomposition of hydrocarbons such as e thane and gasoline, the decomposition of these hydrocarbons was investigate d. The combined system was found to be more effective for hydrogen producti on at 550-750 K than the fixed-bed reactor (FBR) system. In fact, the use o f PMR resulted in the formation of a smaller amount of methane (< 10% yield ) as a major by-product than that in the FBR (10-50% yield). It could be po stulated because, first, the direct decomposition of ethane to form hydroge n in the PMR system occurs predominantly by ethane cracking to give methane , carbon, and hydrogen and, second, the permeation of hydrogen prevents rec ombination of hydrogen with the carbon products to give methane. The Ni/Ca/ C catalysts/PMR system was found also to be effective for the formation of hydrogen by decomposition of commercially available gasoline at temperature as low as 573 K.