Gaseous hydrogen can be produced by the steam cracking of methane in a catalytic reactor at 500°C and 1 bar according to the following reaction
CH4 1 2H2O dS CO2 1 4H2
(a) If 5 moles of steam are fed into the reactor for every mole of methane, at equilibrium, how many moles of hydrogen are produced?
(b) If we build a reactor and run it under these conditions, could we ever get a lower conversion (less hydrogen) than that calculated in part (a)? Can we ever get a higher conversion? Explain.
(c) Would it make sense to increase the pressure in order to increase the equilibrium conversion? Explain.