Definition
water gas: A mixture of carbonmonoxide and hydrogen produced bypassing steam over hot carbon (coke):H2O(g) + C(s) → CO(g) + H2(g)The reaction is strongly endothermicbut the reaction can be used in conjunctionwith that for producer gasfor making fuel gas. The main use ofwater gas before World War II was inproducing hydrogen for the Haberprocess. Here the above reaction wascombined with the water-gas shiftreaction to increase the amount ofhydrogen:
CO + H2O ? CO2 + H2
Most hydrogen for the Haber processis now made from natural gas bysteam reforming.
