ABSTRACT
The urgent need to reduce carbon dioxide emissions to lessen the effects of climate change, coupled with the development of clean technologies, such as fuel cells, and the increasing demand for synthesis gas for the chemical and petrochemical industries are causing a growing demand of hydrogen and hydrogen-rich gases. Steam reforming is the most common industrial process to generate hydrogen, but concerns about catalyst deterioration and low specific productivity have fostered the study of steam reforming in the presence of plasma. This entry provides an overview of hydrogen production from fossil and renewable sources by plasma steam reforming. Thermal and nonthermal plasma applications are reviewed including alternative steam generation techniques such as contact glow discharge electrolysis.
