Fossil fuel-based production of hydrogen with low-to-zero CO_2 emissions: Overview of technologies

摘要

Currently, practically all industrial manufacturing of hydrogen is based on fossil fuels. However, even the "cleanest" of H_2 production processes, steam methane reforming (SMR), produces close to 10 kg CO_2 per kg H_2 product. Therefore, there is an urgent need to develop and implement fossil fuel-based hydrogen production processes with low-to-zero CO_2 emissions. The objective of this paper is to analyze existing and emerging technological options for eliminating or drastically reducing the amount of CO_2 emissions from fossil fuel-based hydrogen production plants. The main approaches to low-to-zero CO_2 production of hydrogen from fossil fuels are: 1.the integration of fossil fuel-based hydrogen plants with CO_2 capture and storage, 2.production of CO_2-free hydrogen via dissociation of methane, and 3.the integration of fossil fuel-based hydrogen production processes with non-carbon energy sources such as nuclear and solar. Current status and outlook for low-carbon production of hydrogen from fossil fuels are discussed in this paper.