RECENT ADVANCES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE HYBRID SULFUR PROCESS FOR HYDROGEN PRODUCTION
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.
- Research Organization:
- SRS
- Sponsoring Organization:
- DOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC09-08SR22470
- OSTI ID:
- 1022079
- Report Number(s):
- SRNL-STI-2009-00162
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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