The Lane hydrogen producer was an apparatus for
hydrogen production
Hydrogen gas is produced by several industrial methods. Nearly all of the world's current supply of hydrogen is created from fossil fuels. Article in press. Most hydrogen is ''gray hydrogen'' made through steam methane reforming. In this process, ...
based on the
steam-iron process and
water gas
Water gas is a kind of fuel gas, a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen. It is produced by "alternately hot blowing a fuel layer okewith air and gasifying it with steam". The caloric yield of the fuel produced by this method is about 10% o ...
invented in 1903 by a British engineer, Howard Lane.
History
The first commercial Lane hydrogen producer was commissioned in 1904. By 1913, of hydrogen was manufactured annually by this process.
In the early-part of the 20th century, the process found some use as a means of producing hydrogen lifting gas for
airships
An airship, dirigible balloon or dirigible is a type of aerostat (lighter-than-air) aircraft that can navigate through the air flying under its own power. Aerostats use buoyancy from a lifting gas that is less dense than the surrounding ai ...
, as it could produce large volumes of gas cheaply. Lane producers were installed at some British airship stations so the gas could be manufactured on-site. To work efficiently however, the plant required skilled operators and to be running as a quasi-continuous process. A competing process, referred to as the ''Silicol Process'', reacted
Ferrosilicon
Ferrosilicon is an ferroalloy, alloy of iron and silicon. It has a typical silicon content of 15–90% by weight and a high proportion of iron silicides.
Production and reactions
Ferrosilicon is produced by reduction of silica or sand with coke ...
with a strong
Sodium hydroxide
Sodium hydroxide, also known as lye and caustic soda, is an inorganic compound with the formula . It is a white solid ionic compound consisting of sodium cations and hydroxide anions .
Sodium hydroxide is a highly corrosive base (chemistry), ...
solution and had the advantage of flexibility.
In the 1940s the Lane process was superseded by cheaper methods of hydrogen production that used oil or natural gas as a feedstock.
Process description
Where hydrogen was commonly produced with the single
retort
In a chemistry laboratory, a retort is a device used for distillation or dry distillation of substances. It consists of a sphere, spherical vessel with a long downward-pointing neck. The liquid to be distilled is placed in the vessel and heat ...
like the Messerschmitt
and the Bamag type, Lane introduced the multiple retort type. In the Lane generator
water gas
Water gas is a kind of fuel gas, a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen. It is produced by "alternately hot blowing a fuel layer okewith air and gasifying it with steam". The caloric yield of the fuel produced by this method is about 10% o ...
was used to heat the retorts up to 600-800 °C after which water gas-air was used in the retorts. In the steam-iron process the iron oxidizes and has to be replaced with fresh metal, in the Lane hydrogen producer the iron is
reduced with water gas back to its metallic condition, after which the process restarts.
The chemical reactions are
:3Fe+ 4H
2O → Fe
3O
4 + 4H
2
:Fe
3O
4+ 4CO → 3Fe + 4CO
2
The net chemical reaction is:
:CO + H
2O → CO
2 + H
2
See also
*
Iron oxide cycle
*
Sponge iron reaction
*
Water gas shift reaction
Water is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance. It is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms ( ...
*
Timeline of hydrogen technologies
This is a timeline of the history of hydrogen technology.
Timeline
16th century
* c. 1520 – First recorded observation of hydrogen by Paracelsus through dissolution of metals (iron, zinc, and tin) in sulfuric acid.
17th century
* 1625 – F ...
*
Chemical looping combustion
References
{{reflist
Hydrogen production
Chemical equipment