C. As high temperatures favour carbon formation and deposition, higher than stoichiometric (around 2.5) steam to carbon ratios must be used. Hydrogen production from methane is the most common utilization of steam reforming process in industry.
Next to the already discussed steam reforming technique, there are two different, significant methods: partial oxidation (POX) and autothermal reforming (ATR). These, in contrary do not require any external heat source (are exothermic or thermally self-sufficient) and do require external oxygen. Partial oxidation technique consumes part of the hydrocarbon fuel in combustion process for heat generation. Partial oxidation reaction occurs as follows: