Hydrogen Sulfide Conversion to Hydrogen

Abstract

A process and system for substantially eliminating contaminants from a gas and a gas produced therefrom.

1 . A process for substantially eliminating contaminants from a gas comprising:
 providing the gas having hydrogen sulfide and hydrocarbon in a reactor;   passing the gas through a heated area having a temperature of about 50° C.-700° C., the heated area produced by a heating element comprising at least one of a catalyst and a resistance wire;   converting the hydrogen sulfide to sulfur and hydrogen;   separating the sulfur from the gas.   
   
   
       2 . The process of  claim 1  wherein the hydrocarbon comprises methane. 
   
   
       3 . The process of  claim 1  wherein the gas comprises at least one of a natural gas, industrial gas and refining gas. 
   
   
       4 . The process of  claim 1  wherein the temperature comprises about 400-700° C. 
   
   
       5 . The process of  claim 1  wherein the temperature comprises about at least 115° C. 
   
   
       6 . The process of  claim 1  wherein the reactor comprises a pressure of about atmospheric pressure up to 20,684 kPa. 
   
   
       7 . The process of  claim 1  further comprising feeding the gas into a hydrogen permeable reactor. 
   
   
       8 . The process of  claim 1  wherein the hydrogen permeable reactor comprises a ceramic. 
   
   
       9 . The process of  claim 1  further comprising:
 providing carbon dioxide at a ratio of about 2 moles of hydrogen sulfide to one mole of carbon dioxide;   converting the carbon dioxide to water and at least one of carbon and carsuls;   reducing the carbon dioxide with hydrogen; and   separating the water and the at least one of carbon and carsuls from the gas.   
   
   
       10 . The process of  claim 1  further comprising:
 oxidizing the hydrogen; and   releasing energy in an exothermic process yielding 10-12 times an absorbed energy required in an endothermic process of converting the hydrogen sulfide to sulfur and hydrogen.   
   
   
       11 . A gas produced from the process of  claim 1 . 
   
   
       12 . A process for substantially eliminating contaminants from a gas comprising:
 providing the gas having hydrogen sulfide, hydrocarbon and carbon dioxide in a reactor;   passing the gas through a heated area having a temperature of about 50° C.-700° C., the heated area produced by a heating element comprising at least one of a catalyst and a resistance wire;   converting the hydrogen sulfide to sulfur and hydrogen;   reacting the hydrogen with the carbon dioxide to form water and at least one of carbon and carsuls; and   oxidizing the hydrogen with the oxygen of the carbon dioxide; and   separating the sulfur, water and at least one of carbon and carsuls from the gas.   
   
   
       13 . The process of  claim 12  wherein the hydrocarbon comprises methane. 
   
   
       14 . The process of  claim 12  wherein the gas comprises at least one of a natural gas, industrial gas and refining gas. 
   
   
       15 . The process of  claim 12  wherein the temperature comprises about 400-700° C. 
   
   
       16 . The process of  claim 12  wherein the temperature comprises about at least 59° C. 
   
   
       17 . The process of  claim 12  wherein the reactor comprises a pressure of about atmospheric pressure up to 20,684 kPa. 
   
   
       18 . The process of  claim 12  further comprising releasing energy in an exothermic process yielding 10-12 times an absorbed energy required in an endothermic process of converting the hydrogen sulfide to sulfur and hydrogen. 
   
   
       19 . The process of  claim 12  wherein the gas comprises a ratio of about 2 moles of hydrogen sulfide to one mole of carbon dioxide. 
   
   
       20 . A process for providing hydrogen as a fuel comprising:
 storing a gas, having hydrogen sulfide, as a liquefied gas in a container;   providing a reactor that connects to the container, the reactor having a heating element comprising at least one of a catalyst and a resistance wire;   releasing the gas from the container to the reactor;   passing the gas through a heated area, having a temperature of about 50° C.-700° C., produced by the heating element;   converting the hydrogen sulfide to sulfur and hydrogen; and   separating the sulfur from the gas.   
   
   
       21 . The process of  claim 20  further comprising filtering the hydrogen through at least one of a hydrogen only permeable membrane and a bed of hydrogen sulfide absorbent. 
   
   
       22 . The process of  claim 20  wherein the reactor comprises a hydrogen permeable reactor. 
   
   
       23 . A gas substantially free of contaminants, the contaminants removed by a process comprising:
 providing a gas having hydrogen sulfide and hydrocarbon in a reactor;   passing the gas through a heated area having a temperature of about 50° C.-700° C., the heated area produced by a heating element comprising at least one of a catalyst and a resistance wire;   converting the hydrogen sulfide to sulfur and hydrogen; and   separating the sulfur from the gas.   
   
   
       24 . A system for substantially eliminating contaminants from a gas comprising:
 a reactor for receiving the gas, having hydrogen sulfide and hydrocarbon; and   a heating element, having at least one of a catalyst and a resistance wire, within the reactor that contacts the gas to produce products substantially free of the hydrogen sulfide.