A process for producing hydrogen and carbon products

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2021147228-A1
Application number	US-201917045949-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Apr 4, 2019
Priority date	Apr 9, 2018
Publication date	May 20, 2021
Grant date	—

Abstract

A process comprising passing methane through a reaction zone comprising a molten salt/metal bed under reaction conditions to produce a gas stream comprising hydrogen and a solid carbon product wherein the reaction zone comprises a hydrogen acceptor.

First claim

1 . A process comprising passing methane through a reaction zone comprising a molten salt/metal bed under reaction conditions to produce a gas stream comprising hydrogen and a solid carbon product wherein the reaction zone comprises a hydrogen acceptor.

2 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the molten salt/metal comprises iron, cobalt, nickel, tin, bismuth, indium, gallium, copper, lead, molybdenum, tungsten and mixtures thereof.

3 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the reaction conditions comprise a temperature in the range of from 600 to 1000° C.

4 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the carbon product has a density lower than the molten salt/metal.

5 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the hydrogen in the gas stream is at least partially bound by the hydrogen acceptor.

6 . The process of claim 1 , wherein the hydrogen acceptor comprises a metal or compound thereof that forms a hydride complex with hydrogen.

7 . The process of claim 6 , wherein the metal is a transition metal.

8 . The process of claim 6 , wherein the metal is titanium.

9 . The process of claim 6 , wherein the metal is zirconium.

10 . The process of claim 1 , further comprising removing at least a portion of the hydrogen acceptor from the reaction zone to remove the hydrogen bound to the hydrogen acceptor.

11 . A process for producing hydrogen and solid carbon comprising:
a. contacting methane with a catalyst selected from the group consisting of iron, nickel, cobalt or mixtures thereof in a first reaction zone wherein the temperature is in a range of from 700 to 1200° C. to produce a first gas stream comprising hydrogen and unreacted methane and a first solid carbon product comprising carbon nanotubes; b. separating at least a portion of the carbon nanotubes from the first gas stream in a gas/solid separation apparatus; and
passing at least a portion of the unreacted methane through a second reaction zone comprising a molten salt/metal bed wherein the molten salt/metal bed comprises a metal selected from the group consisting of iron, cobalt, nickel, tin, bismuth, indium, gallium, copper, lead, molybdenum, tungsten or a salt selected from the group consisting of lithium chloride, sodium chloride, potassium chloride, cesium chloride, magnesium chloride, calcium chloride, strontium chloride, barium chloride or mixtures thereof and a hydrogen acceptor selected from the group consisting of transition metals and compounds thereof at a temperature in the range of from 600 to 1000° C. to produce a second gas stream comprising hydrogen and unreacted methane and a second solid carbon product.

Assignees

• Shell Oil Co

Inventors

• Geerlings Jacobus Johannes Cornelis
• Mesters Carolus Matthias Anna Maria
• Spanu Leonardo

Classifications

• C01B3/0026 Primary

  Metals or metal hydrides · CPC title

• C10L5/00 Primary

  Solid fuels (produced by solidifying fluid fuels C10L7/00; peat briquettes C10F7/06) · CPC title

• C01B2203/0833

  Heating by indirect heat exchange with hot fluids, other than combustion gases, product gases or non-combustive exothermic reaction product gases · CPC title

• C01B3/26

  using catalysts · CPC title

• C01B3/24

  of hydrocarbons · CPC title