Patent ID: 11873219
Assignee: SHELL USA, INC.
Field: Electrical machinery, apparatus, energy (Electrical engineering)
Classification: CPC C  B  H | IPC B  C  H

Claim 19:
20. A process for producing hydrogen and solid carbon comprising:
a. contacting natural gas with a catalyst selected from the group consisting of iron, nickel, cobalt and 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 natural gas 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 natural gas and hydrogen through a second reaction zone comprising a molten salt/metal bed wherein the molten salt/metal bed comprises metals selected from the group consisting of iron, cobalt, nickel, tin, bismuth, indium, gallium, copper, lead, molybdenum, and tungsten, or salts selected from the group consisting of alkaline halides and alkaline earth halides, or mixtures, thereof and the temperature in the second reaction zone is in a range of from 700 to 1200° C. to produce a second gas stream comprising hydrogen and unreacted natural gas and a second solid carbon product.