skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: RECENT ADVANCES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE HYBRID SULFUR PROCESS FOR HYDROGEN PRODUCTION

Abstract

Thermochemical processes are being developed to provide global-scale quantities of hydrogen. A variant on sulfur-based thermochemical cycles is the Hybrid Sulfur (HyS) Process, which uses a sulfur dioxide depolarized electrolyzer (SDE) to produce the hydrogen. In the HyS Process, sulfur dioxide is oxidized in the presence of water at the electrolyzer anode to produce sulfuric acid and protons. The protons are transported through a cation-exchange membrane electrolyte to the cathode and are reduced to form hydrogen. In the second stage of the process, the sulfuric acid by-product from the electrolyzer is thermally decomposed at high temperature to produce sulfur dioxide and oxygen. The two gases are separated and the sulfur dioxide recycled to the electrolyzer for oxidation. The Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) has been exploring a fuel-cell design concept for the SDE using an anolyte feed comprised of concentrated sulfuric acid saturated with sulfur dioxide. The advantages of this design concept include high electrochemical efficiency and small footprint compared to a parallel-plate electrolyzer design. This paper will provide a summary of recent advances in the development of the SDE for the HyS process.

Authors:
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE
OSTI Identifier:
1022079
Report Number(s):
SRNL-STI-2009-00162
TRN: US201117%%561
DOE Contract Number:  
DE-AC09-08SR22470
Resource Type:
Book
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
08 HYDROGEN; ANODES; BY-PRODUCTS; CATHODES; DESIGN; EFFICIENCY; ELECTROLYTES; GASES; HYDROGEN; HYDROGEN PRODUCTION; MEMBRANES; OXIDATION; OXYGEN; PROTONS; SAVANNAH RIVER PLANT; SULFUR; SULFUR DIOXIDE; SULFURIC ACID; THERMOCHEMICAL PROCESSES; WATER

Citation Formats

Hobbs, D. RECENT ADVANCES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE HYBRID SULFUR PROCESS FOR HYDROGEN PRODUCTION. United States: N. p., 2010. Web.
Hobbs, D. RECENT ADVANCES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE HYBRID SULFUR PROCESS FOR HYDROGEN PRODUCTION. United States.
Hobbs, D. 2010. "RECENT ADVANCES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE HYBRID SULFUR PROCESS FOR HYDROGEN PRODUCTION". United States. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1022079.
@article{osti_1022079,
title = {RECENT ADVANCES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE HYBRID SULFUR PROCESS FOR HYDROGEN PRODUCTION},
author = {Hobbs, D},
abstractNote = {Thermochemical processes are being developed to provide global-scale quantities of hydrogen. A variant on sulfur-based thermochemical cycles is the Hybrid Sulfur (HyS) Process, which uses a sulfur dioxide depolarized electrolyzer (SDE) to produce the hydrogen. In the HyS Process, sulfur dioxide is oxidized in the presence of water at the electrolyzer anode to produce sulfuric acid and protons. The protons are transported through a cation-exchange membrane electrolyte to the cathode and are reduced to form hydrogen. In the second stage of the process, the sulfuric acid by-product from the electrolyzer is thermally decomposed at high temperature to produce sulfur dioxide and oxygen. The two gases are separated and the sulfur dioxide recycled to the electrolyzer for oxidation. The Savannah River National Laboratory (SRNL) has been exploring a fuel-cell design concept for the SDE using an anolyte feed comprised of concentrated sulfuric acid saturated with sulfur dioxide. The advantages of this design concept include high electrochemical efficiency and small footprint compared to a parallel-plate electrolyzer design. This paper will provide a summary of recent advances in the development of the SDE for the HyS process.},
doi = {},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1022079}, journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Thu Jul 22 00:00:00 EDT 2010},
month = {Thu Jul 22 00:00:00 EDT 2010}
}

Book:
Other availability
Please see Document Availability for additional information on obtaining the full-text document. Library patrons may search WorldCat to identify libraries that hold this book.

Save / Share: