The progress in water gas shift and steam reforming hydrogen production technologies – A review

•Hydrogen production is extremely important for future reduction of CO2 emissions.•Steam reforming and water gas shift can convert hydrocarbons with high H2 yield.•Many catalysts being researched now have better performance than industrial catalysts.

Hydrogen has been widely considered a clean fuel of the future, with the highest mass based energy density of known fuels. Water gas shift (WGS) and steam reforming (SR) are the major reactions used for hydrogen production, and improved catalysts are essential to the future of the WGS and SR processes. Much progress in the different aspects of these fields has been made recently, which includes approaches to preparation and characterization, doping and promotion, as well as evaluation of catalysts, especially nanocatalysts. Significant improvements have been realized in increasing the stability of the catalysts, the overall conversion of raw materials, and the hydrogen production selectivity. This review aims to introduce these hydrogen production processes, to present developments in these areas, and discusses recent improvements that have made noteworthy impacts.

Graphical abstractFigure optionsDownload full-size imageDownload as PowerPoint slide