Question

How can you obtain hydrogen from a mixture of hydrogen and carbon monoxide.

Answer 1

It is difficult to obtain pure from water gas or syngas (Mixture of CO and ). Therefore, to remove CO and increase the production of dihydrogen from syngas, CO of the syngas is oxidised to CO by mixing it with more steam at 673 K in presence of iron chromate as catalyst.

CO+H + HO-------------> CO + H

This reaction is also known as water gas shift reaction.

Carbon dioxide thus produced is removed either by scrubbing the mixture with sodium arsenite solution or by passing the mixture through water under 30atm pressure when Carbon dioxide dissolves leaving behind hydrogen which is collected.