Hydrogen sulfide reformation in the presence of methane

Abstract

This paper provides experimental investigation on the potential of hydrogen production from hydrogen sulfide and methane mixtures in nitrogen. The reformation of H2S in natural gas represents a viable alternative option for the treatment of acid gases extracted from gas wells that contains H2S, CH4 and N2 in the gases without their separation, using for example, the amine process to remove H2S. A laboratory-scale quartz reactor was used to investigate experimentally the effect of temperature and inlet stream composition on the production of hydrogen from a mixture of hydrogen sulfide and methane diluted in nitrogen. The results reveal the important role of reactor temperature on the decomposition of both hydrogen sulfide and methane as well as the production of hydrogen. The results also showed that the production of hydrogen increased dramatically at temperatures exceeding 1473K wherein the conversion of hydrogen sulfide is more significant. The methane was consumed at temperatures above 1373K. The conversion of hydrogen sulfide in presence of methane was higher than that in case of hydrogen sulfide only. The carbon disulfide formed during the reformation process increased with increase in temperature. These results provide favorable reactor operational conditions for the reformation of methane with hydrogen sulfide. These results also provide a viable alternative option for the treatment of various waste streams containing hydrogen sulfide to produce clean hydrogen and sulfur.