Catalytic Decomposition of H2S into H2 and S: Process Design and Optimization for Future Piloting

Abstract H2S is one of the major toxic byproducts of the oil and gas industry and an undesired pollutant in natural gas. Global H2S generation is estimated to be over 7 million tons per year. The objective is to present a rising technology to convert H2S into hydrogen and sulfur as an alternative to the Claus process, which yields water and sulfur. The proposed process involves a reactor with a stationary catalyst bed that decomposes H2S into hydrogen and sulfur in a few seconds. In-depth laboratory studies of H2S decomposition were supplemented by the DFT quantum modeling. In terms of value generation efficiency, the technology outperforms conventional Claus and the research results reported lately. Using the process modeling software package, a process flow diagram was created. The data obtained from laboratory testing and computational simulations will be used to create a pilot unit to demonstrate the technology's feasibility. This paper presents novel progress in developing and upscaling the process of H2S decomposition to hydrogen and sulfur using catalyst. Alternative approaches reported up to date face significant challenges in industrial implementation due to low effectiveness, complexity, or lack of experimental data or process design. Results obtained in this work demonstrate and facilitate the feasibility of the proposed method of H2S conversion.