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ANIS HAMZA FAKEEHA

Professor

Full Professor

كلية الهندسة
Chemical Engineering Department, College of Engineering, PO Box 800 Riyadh 11421 Saudi Arabia
مدونة

Catalytic Decomposition of Methane (CDM)

Interest on hydrogen production as a clean source of energy has been steadily increasing in recent years. Hydrogen, being the most environmentally acceptable energy source, enjoys many uses including fuel cells, a fuel for spaceships and more recently automobiles. It is also used as a reducing agent and for conversion of heavy petroleum fractions into lighter ones. Hydrogen is traditionally produced through coal gasification, steam reforming of natural gas and water electrolysis. Currently, steam reforming of methane is the main source for most of the commercial hydrogen production processes. However, the main issue associated with steam methane reforming is the production of 0.43 moles of CO2 against each mole of hydrogen.
This environmental concern has attracted the researcher’s interest to seek alternative ways for hydrogen production in recent decades. Methane decomposition over a catalytic system, also called catalytic decomposition of methane (CDM), produces COx-free H2 and thus can be taken as a potential alternative for high purity H2 production. CDM is single step reaction that involves the decomposition of the methane molecule to yield hydrogen and solid carbon.
The carbon produced in this reaction has several commercial applications, which provides positive impact on the overall economy of the process.