Lane hydrogen producer

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

The Lane hydrogen producer was an early device for making hydrogen using the steam-iron process. It was invented in 1903 by British engineer Howard Lane, and the first commercial unit began operating in 1904. By 1913 it produced about 850 million cubic feet (24 million cubic meters) of hydrogen each year. In the early 20th century this method was used to make lifting gas for airships, and some British airship stations had Lane plants on site. The machines needed skilled operators and ran as a near-continuous process.

Lane faced competition from the Silicol Process, which used Ferrosilicon with strong sodium hydroxide and offered more flexibility. In the 1940s Lane hydrogen production was overtaken by cheaper methods using oil or natural gas. Lane adopted a multi-retort design (more than one reactor), whereas other methods often used a single retort. In Lane’s design, water gas heated the retorts to 600–800 °C, after which water gas and air were used in the retorts. In the steam-iron part, iron oxidizes and must be replaced, but Lane’s process recycles the iron back to its metallic state with water gas, allowing the cycle to restart.