SBIR Phase I: Carbon-Free Hydrogen Production by Plasma Dissociation of Hydrogen Sulfide

小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第一阶段项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力与创造低生产成本、无碳氢气的大规模来源有关。这种氢气将从硫化氢(H2S)中产生。能源行业每年处理近800万吨硫化氢。硫磺回收装置(SRU)用于安全管理硫化氢。SRU使用旧的克劳斯工艺，由于高资本和运营成本，加上硫磺过剩导致的低收入，因此无利可图。与克劳斯工艺不同的是，硫化氢等离子体解离可以回收硫和氢，因此硫可以用于石油脱硫或作为商业产品。分离等离子体中的硫化氢并生产氢气将使SRU有利可图，并将减少该行业的二氧化碳排放。这项技术将减少社会对化石燃料生产的需求，并在向可再生能源过渡期间加强能源安全。该团队将开发一种高速两相旋涡流动的数值模型，该模型将引起广泛的学术兴趣，并可应用于化工和能源行业。这个SBIR第一阶段项目建议开发一种等离子体技术，用于将硫化氢分解为硫和氢，取代硫磺回收装置中的克劳斯工厂。第一阶段将侧重于对硫化氢解离开发计划至关重要的三项创新。主要目标是以比能源需求量1.5千瓦时/立方米表示的高能效。这一目标将通过特殊设计的弧形等离子体管实现，该弧形等离子体管具有极高的气体旋转速度，将导致反应区的氢硫分离、化学平衡移动以及硫团簇和凝聚能的内部回收。第二个创新将是开发一个气体动力学和化学动力学模型，用于高速旋转的两相(气体和硫磺颗粒)涡流的数值模拟。第三，将使用模拟炼油厂实际流动组成的不同混合气体来测试阴极和等离子体管运行的稳定性。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is connected to creating a large-scale source of low production cost, carbon-free hydrogen. This hydrogen will be produced from hydrogen sulfide (H2S). Nearly 8 million tons of H2S are processed by the energy industry each year. Sulfur recovery units (SRUs) are used to safely manage H2S. SRUs utilize an old Claus process and are unprofitable because of high capital and operational costs, in addition to low revenues due to sulfur overproduction. In contrast to the Claus process, H2S plasma dissociation recovers sulfur and hydrogen, whereby the sulfur can be used for oil desulfurization or as a commercial product. Dissociating H2S in plasma and producing hydrogen will make SRUs profitable and will reduce the industry's carbon dioxide emissions. This technology will diminish societal needs for fossil fuel production and increase energy security during the transition to renewable energy. The team will develop a numerical model for the high-speed, two-phase, vortex flows that will have a general academic interest and can be applied in the chemical and energy industries.This SBIR Phase I project proposes to develop a plasma technology for the dissociation of H2S to sulfur and hydrogen, replacing Claus plants in Sulfur Recovery Units. Phase I will focus on three innovations that are critical for the H2S dissociation development program. The major goal is the high energy efficiency expressed as Specific Energy Requirement 1.5 kWh/m3. This goal will be achieved by a special design of the arc plasmatron with an extremely high speed of gas rotation that will result in hydrogen-sulfur separation in the reaction zone, the chemical equilibrium shift, and the internal recuperation of the sulfur clusterization and condensation energy. The second innovation will be the development of a gas-dynamic and chemical-kinetic model for the numerical simulation of two-phase (gas and sulfur particles) vortex flows with a high speed of rotation. Third, the stability of the cathode and plasmatron operation will be tested with different gas mixtures that imitate the composition of real flows at refineries.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.