Non-thermal plasma catalytic reactor for hydrogen production by direct decomposition of H2S

Hydrogen production by non-thermal plasma (NTP) assisted direct decomposition of hydrogen sulfide was carried out in a novel dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) reactor with the inner electrode made of sintered metal fibers (SMF) also functioning as catalyst. The discharge gap between the electrodes and the gas residence time in the discharge was optimized to achieve hydrogen production in an economically feasible manner. Typical results indicate that hydrogen production can be achieved at 160 kJ/mol H2 (2 kWh/m3 or 1.6 eV/molecule), which is less than the energy demand during the steam methane reforming (4.3 kWh/m3 or 3.6 eV/ H2), the conventional method of hydrogen production. (authors)