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

SBIR 第一阶段：通过硫化氢的等离子体解离生产无碳氢气

• 批准号: 2233170
• 负责人: Alexander Gutsol
• 金额: $ 27.5万
• 依托单位: RED SHIFT ENERGY, INC.
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-08-01 至 2024-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2233170&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SBIR; Phase; Carbon; Free; Hydrogen

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.

该小企业创新研究 (SBIR) 第一阶段项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力与创造大规模的低生产成本、无碳氢源有关。该氢气将从硫化氢 (H2S) 中产生。能源行业每年处理近800万吨H2S。硫回收装置 (SRU) 用于安全管理 H2S。 SRU 采用旧的克劳斯工艺，由于资本和运营成本高，加上硫磺生产过剩导致收入低，因此无利可图。与克劳斯工艺相反，H2S等离子体解离回收硫和氢，其中硫可用于石油脱硫或作为商业产品。 在等离子体中解离 H2S 并产生氢气将使 SRU 有利可图，并减少该行业的二氧化碳排放。该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提高能源安全。该团队将开发一个高速、两相、涡流的数值模型，该模型将具有普遍的学术兴趣，并可应用于化学和能源行业。该 SBIR 第一阶段项目建议开发一种等离子体技术，用于H2S 分解为硫和氢，取代硫回收装置中的克劳斯装置。第一阶段将重点关注对 H2S 解离开发计划至关重要的三项创新。主要目标是高能源效率，具体能源需求为 1.5 kWh/m3。这一目标将通过弧形等离子管的特殊设计来实现，该等离子管具有极高的气体旋转速度，从而导致反应区中的氢-硫分离、化学平衡移动以及硫团聚和凝结能量的内部回收。 。第二项创新是开发气体动力学和化学动力学模型，用于高速旋转的两相（气体和硫颗粒）涡流流的数值模拟。第三，将使用模拟炼油厂真实流量成分的不同气体混合物来测试阴极和等离子管运行的稳定性。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进行评估，被认为值得支持审查标准。