Review of methane pyrolysis for clean turquoise hydrogen production

With the global shift to renewable energy sources to address environmental concerns, hydrogen has become a popular choice for energy transportation. The methane pyrolysis reaction is considered a promising technology for the future because it can produce hydrogen using only 13% of the theoretical thermodynamic energy per 1 mole of H2 needed for water electrolysis. Since methane pyrolysis operates at high temperatures above 1200 ℃ and produces byproducts such as solid carbon, research on high-performance catalysts and suitable reactor shapes is critical to commercialize the technology. This paper introduces the reaction mechanism of the methane pyrolysis reaction and summarizes available solid and liquid catalysts. In addition, existing reactor designs have been introduced, and the techno-economics based on the overall process design and operating conditions are analyzed. As a result, methane pyrolysis is proven to be a favorable way to produce clean hydrogen compared to other hydrogen production processes.