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Research Problem and Opportunity

Overview of Research Problem: During the refinement of natural gas and oil, large amounts of Hydrogen Sulfide are produced. This Hydrogen Sulfide is highly toxic and must therefore be treated. The most common treatment method is known as the Claus Process.

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Research Problem and Opportunity

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  1. Overview of Research Problem: • During the refinement of natural gas and oil, large amounts of Hydrogen Sulfide are produced. • This Hydrogen Sulfide is highly toxic and must therefore be treated. • The most common treatment method is known as the Claus Process. • One potential product of the Claus process is hydrogen gas, but currently industrial Claus plants are not optimized for maximum Hydrogen output. • Research Opportunity: • Hydrogen gas has a very high energy content and a lot of research is being done into the utilization of hydrogen as a fuel. • As technologies develop to use hydrogen as a fuel, energy companies could benefit from the production of hydrogen gas during the refinement of fossil fuels. Research Problem and Opportunity

  2. Research Goal and Methodology • The ultimate goal for this research is to develop a Claus process reactor configuration that maximizes hydrogen output. • The goal for this particular research project is to develop the background knowledge and chemical mechanisms required to develop an optimized reactor configuration. • To accomplish this the chemical simulation software Chemkin was used to perform the following: • Run simulations to determine what reactor conditions are directly related to hydrogen output, and develop a list of the most important drivers of hydrogen output in the Claus process. • Develop a chemical mechanism for H2S pyrolysis that accurately matches experimental data at high temperatures. • Attempt to reduce this mechanism to as few reactions as possible. • This mechanism can then be used to develop a new reactor configuration to maximize hydrogen output.

  3. Results • An existing H2S pyrolysis mechanism was modified to accurately match experimental data at high temperature (1000 C) . • This mechanism did not perform well at lower temperatures, but this is not of great concern because hydrogen output is very low at temperatures below 1000 C. • The mechanism was also reduced from more than 20 reactions to only 4 reactions.

  4. Opportunities for Further Research • This research can easily be picked up by another RISE student , and I would be more than happy to catch them up to speed on what was done this past year and what the future of direction of the project might be. • This is a great project with a lot of potential applications. • Salisu Ibrahim (the PhD student whom I worked very closely with on this project) is a great mentor and is very helpful to undergraduate researchers. • I would highly encourage any upcoming RISE students interested in the energy sector to work in the combustion lab with Salisu and continue this research.

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