Methane Pyrolysis Reactor — Turquoise Hydrogen

Reactor Conditions

Temperature 900 °C

CH₄ feed rate 1.0 mol/min

Catalyst Bed

Live Readouts

CH₄ conversion

0.0%

Residence time τ

0.0 s

H₂ output

0.00 mol/min

Carbon deposited

0.0 g

k(T) = A·e^(−Ea/RT) = 0.0 s⁻¹

How it works

Methane pyrolysis (thermal or catalytic cracking) splits methane directly into solid carbon and hydrogen gas — no oxygen, no CO₂:

CH4 → C(s) + 2 H2(g)      ΔH ≈ +74.8 kJ/mol

Unlike steam-methane reforming, the carbon leaves as a solid ("turquoise hydrogen") instead of CO2 gas, so the process is inherently low-carbon if the process heat comes from clean electricity. The reaction rate follows Arrhenius kinetics, and for a plug-flow reactor with residence time τ the fractional conversion is:

k(T) = A · exp(−Ea / R·T)
τ = V0 / feed rate   (space time, seconds)
X  = 1 − exp(−k·τ)

A nickel catalyst lowers the activation energy Ea from roughly 380 kJ/mol (bare thermal cracking, needs >1100 °C) to about 130 kJ/mol, letting useful conversion happen near 700–900 °C. A carbon-bed (autocatalytic — fresh carbon product catalyzes further decomposition) sits in between, around 900–1100 °C.

Temperature slider — sets T in the Arrhenius rate constant k(T).
Feed rate slider — higher feed shortens residence time τ = V0/feed, which lowers conversion for the same T.
Catalyst buttons — swap Ea/A, shifting the whole conversion curve to lower or higher temperature.
Green spheres are unreacted CH4, cyan spheres are H2 leaving the outlet, and black spheres are solid carbon settling out and piling up in the reactor.

CH4 (unreacted) H2 (product) Solid carbon

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Methane Pyrolysis Reactor — Turquoise Hydrogen Production