The Evolution, Chemistry and Applications of Homogeneous Liquid Redox Sulfur Recovery Techniques

Measuring and Modeling the Solubility of Hydrogen Sulfide in rFeCl3/[bmim]Cl

The solubility of hydrogen sulfide in different mole ratios of ferric chloride and 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride ionic liquid (rFeCl3/[bmim]Cl, r = 0.6, 0.8, 1.0, 1.2, 1.4) at temperatures of 303.15 to 348.15 K and pressures of 100 to 1000 kPa was determined. The total solubility increased with the increase of pressure and the decrease of temperature. The solubility data were fitted using the reaction equilibrium thermodynamic model (RETM). The mean relative error between the predicted value and the measured value was less than 4%. Henry’s coefficient and the equilibrium constant of chemical reaction at each temperature were calculated. Henry’s coefficient first decreased and then increased with the increase of mole ratio, and increased with the increase of temperature. The equilibrium constant of the chemical reaction followed the same law as Henry’s coefficient. The chemical solubility was related to both Henry’s coefficient and the chemical equilibrium constant. H2S had the highest chemical solubility in FeCl3/[bmim]Cl at a mole ratio of 0.6 and a temperature of 333.15 K. The chemical solubility increased with the increase of pressure.

Overview of recent developments of resource recovery from wastewater via electrochemistry-based technologies

As the rapid increase of the worldwide population, recovering valuable resources from wastewater have attracted more and more attention by governments and academia. Electrochemical technologies have been extensively investigated over the past three decades to purify wastewater. However, the application of these technologies for resource recovery from wastewater has just attracted limited attention. In this review, the recent (2010-2020) electrochemical technologies for resource recovery from wastewater are summarized and discussed for the first time. Fundamentals of typical electrochemical technologies are firstly summarized and analyzed, followed by the specific examples of electrochemical resource recovery technologies for different purposes. Based on the fundamentals of electrochemical reactions and without the addition of chemical agents, metallic ions, nutrients, sulfur, hydrogen and chemical compounds can be effectively recovered by means of electrochemical reduction, electrochemical induced precipitation, electrochemical stripping, electrochemical oxidation and membrane-based electrochemical processes, etc. Pros and cons of each electrochemical technology in practical applications are discussed and analyzed. Single-step electrochemical process seems ineffectively to recover valuable resources from the wastewater with complicated constituents. Multiple-step processes or integrated with biological and membrane-based technologies are essential to improve the performance and purity of products. Consequently, this review attempts to offer in-depth insights into the developments of next-generation of electrochemical technologies to minimize energy consumption, boost recovery efficiency and realize the commercial application.

Effective sulfur and energy recovery from hydrogen sulfide through incorporating an air-cathode fuel cell into chelated-iron process

The chelated-iron process is among the most promising techniques for the hydrogen sulfide (H2S) removal due to its double advantage of waste minimization and resource recovery. However, this technology has encountered the problem of chelate degradation which made it difficult to ensure reliable and economical operation. This work aims to develop a novel fuel-cell-assisted chelated-iron process which employs an air-cathode fuel cell for the catalyst regeneration. By using such a process, sulfur and electricity were effectively recovered from H2S and the problem of chelate degradation was well controlled. Experiment on a synthetic sulfide solution showed the fuel-cell-assisted chelated-iron process could maintain high sulfur recovery efficiencies generally above 90.0%. The EDTA was preferable to NTA as the chelating agent for electricity generation, given the Coulombic efficiencies (CEs) of 17.8 ± 0.5% to 75.1 ± 0.5% for the EDTA-chelated process versus 9.6 ± 0.8% to 51.1 ± 2.7% for the NTA-chelated process in the pH range of 4.0-10.0. The Fe (III)/S(2-) ratio exhibited notable influence on the electricity generation, with the CEs improved by more than 25% as the Fe (III)/S(2-) molar ratio increased from 2.5:1 to 3.5:1. Application of this novel process in treating a H2S-containing biogas stream achieved 99% of H2S removal efficiency, 78% of sulfur recovery efficiency, and 78.6% of energy recovery efficiency, suggesting the fuel-cell-assisted chelated-iron process was effective to remove the H2S from gas streams with favorable sulfur and energy recovery efficiencies.

A fuel-cell-assisted iron redox process for simultaneous sulfur recovery and electricity production from synthetic sulfide wastewater

Sulfide present in wastewaters and waste gases should be removed due to its toxicity, corrosivity, and malodorous property. Development of effective, stable, and feasible methods for sulfur recovery from sulfide attains a double objective of waste minimization and resource recovery. Here we report a novel fuel-cell-assisted iron redox (FC-IR) process for simultaneously recovering sulfur and electricity from synthetic sulfide wastewater. The FC-IR system consists of an oxidizing reactor where sulfide is oxidized to elemental sulfur by Fe(III), and a fuel cell where Fe(III) is regenerated from Fe(II) concomitantly with electricity producing. The oxidation of sulfide by Fe(III) is significantly dependent on solution pH. Increasing the pH from 0.88 to 1.96 accelerates the oxidation of sulfide, however, lowers the purity of the produced elemental sulfur. The performance of fuel cell is also a strong function of solution pH. Fe(II) is completely oxidized to Fe(III) when the fuel cell is operated at a pH above 6.0, whereas only partially oxidized below pH 6.0. At pH 6.0, the highest columbic efficiency of 75.7% is achieved and electricity production maintains for the longest time of 106 h. Coupling operation of the FC-IR system obtains sulfide removal efficiency of 99.90%, sulfur recovery efficiency of 78.6 ± 8.3%, and columbic efficiency of 58.6 ± 1.6%, respectively. These results suggest that the FC-IR process is a promising tool to recover sulfur and energy from sulfide.

H2S(g) removal using a modified, low-ph liquid redox sulfur recovery (LRSR) process with electrochemical regeneration of the Fe catalyst couple

A modified pH 1.0 liquid redox sulfur recovery (LRSR) process, based on reactive absorption of H(2)S((g)) in an acidic (pH 1.0) iron solution ([Fe(III)] = 9-8 g L(-1), [Fe(II)] = 1-2 g L(-1)) and electrochemical regeneration of the Fe(III)/Fe(II) catalyst couple, is introduced. Fe(II) was oxidized in a flow-through electrolytic cell by Cl(2(aq)) formed on a Ti/RuO(2) anode. pH 1.0 was applied to retard the potential precipitation of predominantly jarosite group Fe(III) species. At pH 1.0, the presence of chloride ions at [Cl(-)] = 30 g L(-1) allows for both efficient (indirect) electrochemical oxidation of Fe(II) and efficient H(2)S((g)) reactive absorption. The latter observation was hypothesized to be associated with higher concentrations of Fe(III)-Cl complexes that are more highly reactive toward H(2)S((aq)) than are free Fe(III) ions and Fe-SO(4) complexes that otherwise dominate pH 1.0 Fe(III) solutions in the absence of a significant Cl(-) concentration. At the described operational conditions the rate of Fe(II) oxidation in the experimental system was 0.793 kg Fe h(-1) per m(2) anode surface area, at a current efficiency of 58%. Electricity cost within the electrochemical step was approximated at $0.9 per kg H(2)S((g)) removed.

Novel non-aqueous Fe(iii)/Fe(ii) redox couple for the catalytic oxidation of hydrogen sulfide to sulfur by air

A series of Fe(III) salts and organic solvents have been screened to develop novel non-aqueous catalysts for the conversion of H2S to sulfur. FeCl3/95% N-methylpyrrolidinone/5% H2O was found to be a most efficient non-aqueous system. The process chemistry, the proposed mechanism of catalytic oxidation of H2S, and the electrochemistry are discussed.