Electrified methane reforming: A compact approach to greener industrial hydrogen production

Abstract

More-efficient heating Large-scale production of hydrogen through steam reforming directly produces CO 2 as a side product. In addition, the heating of reactors through fossil-fuel burning contributes further CO 2 emissions. One problem is that the catalyst bed is heated unevenly, which renders much of the catalyst effectively inactive. Wismann et al. describe an electrical heating scheme for a metal tube reactor that improves the uniformity of heating and catalyst usage (see the Perspective by Van Geem et al. ). Adoption of this alternative approach could affect CO 2 emissions by up to approximately 1% of global emissions. Science , this issue p. 756 ; see also p. 734