SBIR Phase I: A New Hydrogen Source From Toxic Hydrogen Sulfide

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project will target the development of a process to produce valuable hydrogen and sulfur from toxic hydrogen sulfide (H2S). Current commercial technology converts H2S into water and sulfur, thereby losing a valuable source of hydrogen. Sulfur polymerization mechanisms for the proposed process have determined using computational chemistry. As a result, new sulfur polymerization agents were identified and will be verified experimentally in this work. New catalyst supports have also been identified and will be evaluated. The amount of hydrogen consumption to remove sulfur represents from 25 to 40% of the total hydrogen requirement. Hence, putting the hydrogen in H2S on total recycle within a refinery could significantly reduce capital and operating costs.