Claims

1-19. (canceled)

20. A method for producing hydrogen and/or other gases from steel plant wastes and waste heat, comprising the steps of:providing molten slag in a reactor;contacting the molten slag with water and/or steam in the presence of a reducing agent to form a stream of hydrogen and/or other gases; andextracting hydrogen and/or other gases from said stream.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the molten slag is waste from a steel plant.

22. The method of claim 20, wherein the molten slag comprises blast furnace slag, desulphurization slag of steelmaking, converter slag of steelmaking, ferrochrome or ferromanganese slag in submerged arc furnace (SAP), or a mixture thereof.

23. The method of claim 20, wherein contacting the molten slag with water and/or steam comprises spraying water into the molten slag using a water line with a spray nozzle.

24. The method of claim 20, wherein the temperature of the molten slag when contacted with water and/or steam is greater than 1250° C.

25. The method of claim 20, wherein contacting the molten slag with water and/or steam comprises injecting steam into the molten slag using a lance.

26. The method of claim 20, wherein contacting the molten slag with water and/or steam comprises injecting the reducing agent along with the water and/or steam into the molten slag.

27. A method for production of a stream of hydrogen and/or carbon monoxide, comprising the steps of:providing molten slag in a reactor;contacting the molten slag with water and/or steam in the presence of a carbonaceous material to form a stream of hydrogen and/or other gases; andextracting the stream of hydrogen and/or other gases from the reactor.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein the molten slag is waste from a steel plant.

29. The method of claim 27, wherein the molten slag comprises blast furnace slag, desulphurization slag of steelmaking, converter slag of steelmaking, ferrochrome or ferromanganese slag in submerged arc furnace (SAF), or a mixture thereof.

30. The method of claim 27, wherein contacting the molten slag with water and/or steam comprises spraying water into the molten slag using a spray nozzle.

31. The method of claim 27, wherein the temperature of the molten slag when contacted with water and/or steam is greater than 1250° C.

32. The method of claim 27, wherein contacting the molten slag with water and/or steam comprises injecting steam into the molten slag using a lance.

33. The method of claim 27, wherein contacting the molten slag with water and/or steam comprises injecting the carbonaceous material along with water and/or steam into the molten slag.

34. The method of claim 27, wherein the carbonaceous material comprises coal coke, steel plant waste, municipal waste and coal mine waste.

35. The method of claim 27, wherein the ratio of water to carbonaceous material is between 1:0.1 to 1:1.

36. The method of claim 27, wherein a flux is added to the molten slag and carbonaceous material for promoting the formation of hydrogen.

37. The method of claim 27, wherein the volume ratio of hydrogen and carbon monoxide produced is from 1:0.2 to 1:1.

38. The method of claim 27, wherein the gas stream extracted from the reactor comprises at least 10 volume percent of hydrogen.

39. The method of claim 27, wherein the gas stream produced in the reactor comprises not greater than 15 volume percent carbon dioxide.

40. The method of claim 27, wherein the gas stream comprises a ratio of hydrogen to carbon monoxide of about 1:1 to 8:1.