Utilization of Sulfuric Waste in Water for Hydrogen Energy Production

摘要

Sulfuric compounds, which consisted of several species, is one of most common pollutant in aquatic environment. Sulfide (S~(2-)) is a sulfuric species that can be naturally found in groundwater. Due to its toxicity, presence of sulfide in natural body causes deterioration of water quality. On the other hand, having the lowest oxidation number in sulfuric species, sulfide is a potential reducing agent. Our study investigate the possibility of producing hydrogen from water (H_2O) using sulfide under hydrothermal condition. In a 60-minutes reaction of aqueous sodium sulfide solution at temperature of ≥280 °C and corresponding saturated vapor pressure, production of hydrogen was observed. Determining factors of the hydrogen production are consumption of sulfide, volume of solution, and mole ratio of produced hydrogen to consumed sulfide [H_2/S~(2-)). It was found that sulfide consumption rate and the H_2/S~(2-) ratio was affected by both temperature and pH, where higher temperature and pH lead to higher production of hydrogen.