Maurice Courtois

Susanna Ferrara

ENG 111/9 E60W

4/3/2011

1. Publication Data

U.S. Department of Energy “Natural Gas Reforming” FCT HYDROGEN PRODUCTION,  

March 8, 2011 Web. (3 Apr. 2011)

[http://www1.eere.energy.gov/hydrogenandfuelcells/production/natural_gas.html]

2. Response

     This article is very precise on explaining what is needed to extract hydrogen from Gas reforming process via different source. I like very much this article as it is very precise and concise. It is also very clear and simple, for me at least. However, the information present in this document maybe hard to grasp from uneducated person. I also dislike the missing information about new gas fractions technique.

3. Summary

    In the article “Natural Gas Reforming” the authors show that distributed gas reforming is actually the most conventional way of extracting hydrogen in the U.S.A. The authors present clearly the two different ways of extracting hydrogen from a different source like: gas containing methane such as propane and natural gas, ethanol, gasoline and even water. 

In this article, it is also explaining that extracting hydrogen from Natural Gas is the quickest and most advanced technique of extraction currently available commercially on the market. It is also clearly stated that infrastructure is already set in place in the whole United States for natural gas delivery. As a warning note, it is also explain that Gas reforming does not curb the issue of green gas emission as there are actually emissions made during the process of reformation. However, it is well accepted that using hydrogen as fuel for car would, with the actual gas reforming technic actually use in the market, decrease gas emission by 60%. 

    Finally, market penetration of hydrogen extracted from gas reforming process, as explain by the authors, poses many challenges. The first being the fact that natural gas is not widely available and produces in the U.S.A., which mean that instead of simply reducing or dependence from foreign petrol we would actually increase or dependence on gas importation. Secondly, the authors clearly precise that for hydrogen to be accepted as a fuel for car it would need to be cheap and that actual techniques of gas reforming are still too expansive.

4. Evaluation

1. This article should be very reliable as it has been written by the U.S. Department of Energy. Studies and articles founded on the U.S. Department of Energy website are mandated and authorized by the congress.  The congress is usually brief by the result of such research to help the lawmaker making decision for the future of America. I believe that rigorous technic to validate the authentic of information use at the Department of Energy is reliable enough for this research paper.

2. This article is definitively a very concise and trustable source of information about gas reforming to produce hydrogen in the U.S. The authors have made a very simplistic comparison between the different source and technique of gas reformation, and it also did a very good end analysis of what would be needed for this technique to be widely use for hydrogen to be use as fuel for car. Very specific supporting details are being used. Additionally, as state before the article is very clear and precise. However, I criticize the conclusion as it does not consider natural gas production coming from new gas fraction technics. I intend to use the conclusion of this document into my research project to drew a clear note on the pro and cons of using gas reformed hydrogen as fuel for car.