SBIR Phase II: Hydrogen Production via Ultra-Rich Superadiabatic Combustion of Hydrogen Sulfide in a Reverse Flow Reactor

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This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project proposes to develop a new process employing the superadiabatic reverse flow reactor to reform hydrogen sulfide into hydrogen with the simultaneous recovery of sulfur. Currently, the seven million tons of hydrogen sulfide produced each year as a byproduct of the reaction of sulfurous compounds with hydrogen are processed by Claus reactors into sulfur while wasting the much more valuable hydrogen content through oxidation. The successful development of the process would provide an economical means of dealing with hydrogen sulfide by retaining hydrogen. The Phase I project obtained the highest hydrogen yield ever achieved by a hydrogen sulfide process without the aid of external energy. Furthermore, the project attested that the reactor operates in regimes that eliminate sulfur dioxide. Building on the positive Phase I results; during this Phase II, a small pilot plant will be built and tested forming the basis for designing the commercial reactor with minimal modification. The high price of gasoline and natural gas is partly due to the high cost of extracting sulfurous compounds in the crude oil refining process. This desulphurization process uses hydrogen, obtained mostly from natural gas, to react with the organosulphur species to form hydrogen sulfide. A process that can produce hydrogen as well as sulfur from hydrogen sulfide would save the energy industry hundreds of millions dollars per year in addition to decreasing the cost of gasoline, diesel, and natural gas for consumers. In addition, the process will also eliminate millions of tons of acid-rain-causing sulfur dioxide produced during disposal of hydrogen sulfide.