Most common methods

Separation of methane into carbon and hydrogen. This is the cracking of methane, the simplest hydrocarbon in composition. Thanks to a special process, liquefied methane is heated to temperatures above 1000-1400 ° C, after which the gas begins to decompose into hydrogen and carbon. Due to the cheapness of methane, as well as the simple method of obtaining it, this type of hydrogen production is the easiest. However, high temperatures and potential fire hazards require additional safety measures. In addition, the equipment for the complete cracking process is quite expensive.

Steam reforming. More than 50% of all hydrogen is produced by steam reforming of water and methane. In this case, the three main components (natural gas, water vapor and oxygen) are mixed in certain proportions. Part of the natural gas burns with oxygen, thereby maintaining the required temperature for the chemical reaction to continue.
Methane, not burned out during the conversion reaction, reacts with water vapor, forming carbon monoxide (that is, soot) and directly hydrogen. The simplicity and relative ease make hydrogen production by steam reforming the cheapest available.

Water electrolysis is the second most common method of hydrogen production, providing a fairly high purity of the final product. The accompanying «bonus» in this process is oxygen, an equally important element. This method of production requires significant amounts of water. Nevertheless, it is not at all picky about its quality - industrial, rain or even waste water can be used for electrolysis.

Pyrolysis. In other words, the decomposition of organic matter by heat treatment. The raw materials for this can be agricultural waste and food production: bird droppings and other by-products of animal husbandry; waste from fish, juice and meat processing plants; some types of industrial crops specially grown for biomass. When processing all these biowastes with the help of special bacteria, synthesis gas is formed, mainly consisting of carbon dioxide and methane. Hydrogen becomes the product of their processing. This method of production is gaining more and more popularity due to the fact that, in addition to hydrogen, ethylene and acetylene are extracted from biomass. Also, biowaste itself is a valuable raw material, which is widely used in agriculture for the production of fertilizers.