It was a mistake that was ahead of its time.
Between 2002 and 2005, engineers with the Techint Group were trying to dial in a new electric arc furnace for a steelmaker when they noticed something odd. The carbon electrodes, rather than breaking down, were growing larger.
The team had inadvertently created what’s known as a pyrolysis reaction, which is basically burning something in the absence of oxygen. In this case, the furnace was splitting methane into pure hydrogen and pure carbon. The team reported their discovery internally and…
