Perspectives on reactive separation and removal of hydrogen sulfide

• Main Authors: Kalyani Jangam, Yu-Yen Chen, Lang Qin, Liang-Shih Fan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2021-08-01
• Series: Chemical Engineering Science: X
• Subjects: Hydrogen sulfide; Oxidative decomposition; Non-oxidative decomposition; Density functional theory; Reaction mechanism; Material design
• Online Access: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2590140021000186

The growing demand for energy and stringent pollutant emission control in sour fuels makes it essential to develop more efficient approaches in H2S gas removal and subsequent treatment to recover sulfur. Several methods using oxidative or non-oxidative decomposition of H2S to remove or inhibit H2S from gas stream have been extensively explored over the past few decades, including catalytic process, reactive absorption, photocatalysis, electrocatalysis, thermal catalysis, membrane-assisted catalysis, and multistep thermochemical decomposition. This article reviews the recent advances in reactive H2S separation combining computational simulation with experimental development. In particular, material and catalyst design, mechanistic insights of the reactions, and applicable reaction processes are discussed. These pioneering works suggest that understanding H2S decomposition reaction mechanism at molecular level is important in the optimization of material and process design. The perspectives are also given on the viability of oxidative or non-oxidative decomposition of H2S.