Hydrogen sulfide mediated water splitting for hydrogen gas an sulfur dioxide production
AssigneeMassachusetts Institute of Technology
InventorsWilliam Green, Ryan Gillis
Life of this patent
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Abstract
The present disclosure describes a hydrogen sulfide decomposition process for converting hydrogen sulfide into hydrogen gas and sulfur dioxide. Such a process can significantly increase the amount of available hydrogen gas. In fact, if each Claus unit in the U.S. creating elemental sulfur in traditional systems were replaced by this hydrogen sulfide decomposition process, 1.83 million metric tons of hydrogen gas could be produced. This represents about 20% of the annual hydrogen produced in the U.S. for any purpose, recovered and available for reuse. Additionally, if desired, the sulfur dioxide can be further processed to form sulfuric acid.
Claims19
A method of decomposing hydrogen sulfide, comprising:
- reacting hydrogen sulfide with water and iodine to create sulfur dioxide and hydroiodic acid.
A method of creating hydrogen from hydrogen sulfide, comprising:
- contacting hydrogen sulfide with water and iodine to create sulfur dioxide and hydroiodic acid;
- and
- decomposing the hydroiodic acid to create hydrogen gas.
A chemical plant to create hydrogen from hydrogen sulfide, comprising:
- a first reactor to react the hydrogen sulfide with iodine and water to form a mixture of dissolved hydroiodic acid and sulfur dioxide;
- a first vapor-liquid separator to separate the sulfur dioxide from the mixture;
- a second reactor to dissociate the hydroiodic acid into a reactor effluent stream comprising hydrogen and iodine;
- and
- a second vapor-liquid separator to separate the hydrogen from the reactor effluent stream.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.