[Professor 0110]

Hi everyone,

Just a quick question here. Will iron react with steam to produce Fe2O3? and hydrogen gas?

Any help will be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

[opti384]

I think you confused Fe₃O₄ with Fe2O3. Fe3O4 is created through the reaction

C6H5NO2 + 9Fe + 2H2O → C6H5NH2 + Fe3O4 where FeCl2 is used as a catalyst. By talking about hydrogen maybe you are

referring to this reaction? (3Fe2O3 + H2 → 2Fe3O4 +H2O )

[Borek]

Will iron react with steam to produce Fe2O3? and hydrogen gas?

I don't think water will be able to oxidize iron to Fe³⁺, I think you need oxygen for that. Probably

Fe + H₂O -> FeO + H₂

is much more likely. But I can be wrong. I am more then sure that these reactions have been researched to death, as they are responsible for corrosion.

[Professor 0110]

Thanks for the help, guys! It really helped.

[billnotgatez]

historically, steam over iron was a standard way of getting hydrogen in the 1920s and 1930s

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6TH1-3YYV71V-2V&_user=10&_coverDate=03%2F31%2F2000&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_searchStrId=1360660693&_rerunOrigin=google&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=b3250a81f7456d1061de9bff8bf4d82f

The steam–iron process is one of the oldest methods of producing hydrogen

[FreeTheBee]

I was just watching the second episode of the bbc program 'The Story of Science: Power, Proof and Passion'. In it, this process is demonstrated using a setup like the one used by Lavoisier. They do not mention the iron oxide product, but focus only on the hydrogen. I do recommend the series though