Experiments of HI decomposition in Iodine-sulfur process

Abstract

We performed an experimental study on the HI concentration and decomposition in Iodine-Sulfur process for thermochemical hydrogen production, which is the most expensive and energy consuming stage. For breaking azeotropic restrain, a partial condensing type, perforated plate type, and packed bed distillation column are employed. A Liebig-type condenser was used for a partial condensing distillation test. The perforated plate distillation column has 40 mm diameter and 5 stages with 8 holes per a plate. The packed bed distillation column has 40 mm diameter and was filled with 5 mm glass beads. While no distillation methods are able to change azeotropic conditions at atmospheric pressure, HI decomposition took place in a reboiler at 480℃. The vapor-liquid equilibrium curve was obtained from the experiment with binary mixtures $(HI/H_2O)$ at atmospheric pressure. Almost pure $H_2O$ was evaporated at the lower temperature than 125℃, and above that temperature binary mixtures $(HI/H_2O)$ were evaporated until the leftover solution became HI acid of 0.157mol, which was an azeotropic concentration of HI. With a consideration of heat loss, enthalpy of vaporization at azeotropic condition was estimated as 1131 kJ/kg.