MOSCOW, May 31.Russian scientists have figured out how to effectively produce hydrogen from natural gas directly in gas fields, and have determined the necessary conditions for this, the Russian Science Foundation (RSF) reported.
Scientists from the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology (Moscow) for the first time proposed extracting hydrogen from layers in natural gas fields. Such formations are rich in hydrocarbons containing large amounts of hydrogen molecules, which means that by converting these substances, large volumes of “green” fuel can be obtained.
The authors have developed an effective method for producing hydrogen from gas fields. The proposed approach includes several stages. First, water vapor and a catalyst are pumped into the well, which will later help extract hydrogen from natural gas components. Air or pure oxygen is then supplied, causing the gas to ignite right inside the formation. In the presence of water vapor and a catalyst, natural gas burns, turning into a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen.
As scientists note, although carbon dioxide is subsequently formed from carbon monoxide, it remains in the formation and does not come to the surface, and therefore does not enter the atmosphere and does not increase the greenhouse effect. At the last stage, hydrogen is extracted from the well through a membrane that does not allow other reaction products to pass through. As a result, all gases formed, except hydrogen — carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide — remain forever «preserved» underground. 
The authors of the work tested this technology in special reactors that create conditions identical to a real gas reservoir. To do this, the researchers loaded crushed rocks into the installation, using pumps to supply methane, the main component of natural gas, water vapor and a catalyst, and then oxygen. At the same time, the pressure characteristic of gas formations was maintained in the reactor (80 times higher than atmospheric pressure). It turned out that the maximum amount of hydrogen—45% of the total volume of gases—is formed at a temperature of 800 °C and large volumes of water vapor supplied to the reactor.
The composition of the rock also affected the hydrogen yield. Thus, in experiments with an artificial porous medium made of aluminum oxide, the hydrogen yield reached 55%. According to the authors of the work, the higher efficiency in this case is explained by the fact that aluminum oxide is inert, that is, it does not react with any surrounding substances. Natural rocks contain other, more active minerals that can enter into side reactions with components of the gas mixture and affect the hydrogen yield.
«
«All stages of the proposed process are based on well-proven technologies that have not previously been adapted to the extraction of hydrogen from a real gas reservoir. We have demonstrated that the proposed approach will allow hydrocarbons to be converted into "green" fuel in the field with an efficiency of up to 45%. In the future, we plan to test our methodology in practice — using gas fields as an example,» said Elena Mukhina, head of the project supported by a grant from the Russian Science Foundation and senior researcher at the Center for Hydrocarbon Production Science and Technology at the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology.
Свежие комментарии