Production of hydrogen and sulfur from hydrogen sulfide

Hydrogen sulfide is a fairly abundant resource whose potential is not being fully utilized by the industry. It is in fact a mineral from which two valuable products, hydrogen and sulfur, can be extracted. No such extraction is done today. Sulfur, however, is recovered by partial oxidation by Claus process and low-quality steam is produced utilizing the heat of reaction. Efforts to produce both hydrogen and sulfur from hydrogen sulfide has been made in recent years through a diverse variety of technologies. These involve thermal, thermochemical, electrochemical, photochemical and plasmochemical methods. An attempt has been made in this paper to bring to focus the possibilities and limitations in each of these areas and find out the areas of prospective research and development. A method that has the potential to develop into a full-scale technology has been suggested.