1. Institute of Chemical Engineering,
DIRECT ELECTRICITY PRODUCTION FROM HYDROGEN SULFIDE IN BLACK SEA WATER BY SULFIDE-DRIVEN FUEL CELL
Prof. Venko Beschkov
Institute of Chemical Engineering,
Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Sofia 1113, Bulgaria

2. Problem: Greenhouse gas reduction?

3. Share of renewables, EU statistics 2016

4. Carbon-free energy/Renewable energy sources:
Wind energy Solar energy Hydropower
Biomass...
What else?

5. Opportunity: the enormous amount of hydrogen sulfide in the Black Sea waters
Tonnes of oil equivalent (toe)
Electricity produced
4.587 Gt
2600 Mtoe
(~1640 Mtoe EU total annual energy consumption, 2016)
31500 TWh
(~ 3xEU annual production, 8780 TWh, 2016)
Each year new 7,5 mln tons hydrogen sulfide are formed (54 TWh)
BG annual electricity consumption – 34 TWh, 2018)

6. The beginning was a project for hydrogen production from
hydrogen sulfide in the Black Sea water by electrolysis.
However, the energy demand was higher than
the one of the produced hydrogen.

7. Net reaction: S2- + 2O2 = SO42- +H,
We propose:
Direct energy production from hydrogen sulfide by new sulfide driven fuel cell (SDFC)
1 m3 water/sec yields
500 kWh energy total.
The power consumption for pumping and operation is about 10% of the yield from SDFC.
Anode: S2- + 4H2O - 8e- = SO H+, Eo= V
Cathode:2O2 + 8H+ + 8e- = 4H2O, Eo=1.229 V
EMF = 1,08 V
Net reaction: S2- + 2O2 = SO42- +H,
H = kJ/mol

8. Sulfide driven fuel cell
Production steps
Pumping from big depths (energy consumption);
Energy production in sulfide driven fuel cell;
DC/AC inversion,transformation and supply to the grid, and/or
Splitting water by electrolysis and storage of the produced hydrogen for further processing (alternative applications).
Simultaneous energy production and seawater remediation.
To the grid
Electricity
Sea level
Sulfide driven fuel cell
Deep water
Clean water

9. Customers/Market:
Big companies with interests in energy production and distribution wherever this resource is available (Black Sea; Caspian Sea; Baltic Sea, mineral water springs,etc.);
Governments of the coastal countries.

10. Competitors/opponents:
Oil, gas and coal production and distribution companies;
Power stations based on fossil fuels;
Producers of energy based on solar and wind resources;
Nuclear power stations.

11. Comparison of the energy potential of
hydrogen sulfide with other energy sources
Fuel
Energy capacity, GJ/t
Oil equivalent
41.86
Hydrogen
143.02
Methane
56.46
Ethanol
26.8
Methanol
19.9
Hydrogen sulfide
24.4
Equivalent to
Tons of oil equivalent
Electricity, TWh
4,6 billion tons H2S
2.6 billion
31000

12. SDFC and other fuels - comparison
Energy source
Features
Fossil fuels (thermal power stations)
(oil, gas, coal)
Carbon emissions; expensive production; heavy operation; long switch on/off process; waste handling.
SDFC
Carbon free; less operational costs; easy switch-on/off; no waste.
Nuclear fuel
Expensive fuel production; heavy operation; long switch on/off process; hazardous operation and waste storage.
Less operational costs; easy switch-on/off; no hazards, no waste.
Wind
Weather and season dependent; impact on environment (bird migration).
Independent
Solar
Weather and season dependent; impact on soil and biodiversity
Independent, environmental benefits

13. Costs for electricity yield
Investment costs (€/kW ) Solar and wind parks, Nuclear power stations, Sulfide power stations, Operational costs (€/MWh ) Solar and wind parks, Nuclear power stations, 40 Sulfide power stations, Lifespan, years Solar and wind parks, Nuclear power stations, 30 Sulfide power stations, 30

14. Implementation steps for a sulfide power plant
Build pilot-scale prototype of 25 kW: €
Build full-size equipment of 10 MW: € 20 mln
Full-size equipment of 240 MW on a rig: € 480 mln

15. Fuel cell lab-scale prototype- tested in situ on a ship in the Black Sea:

16. Off-shore expedition, July, 2014

17. Team: Research project HYSULFCEL sponsored by FP7, bs.era-net program
Project team leader
Business development
Vladislav Hristov, PhD
Roccon Research Center
(Sofia, Bulgaria)
Prof. Venko Beschkov, PhD, DSc
(BAS, Sofia, Bulgaria)
Technical team:
Prof. N. Vaszilcsin, DSc (Polytechnical University, Timisoara, Romania)
Prof. T. Marsagishvili, DSc (Tbilisi State University, Georgia)
Assoc. Prof. E. Razkazova-Velkova, PhD (BAS, Sofia, Bulgaria)
Assoc. Prof. M. Martinov, PhD (passed away)(BAS, Sofia, Bulgaria)
Assoc. Prof. G. Shtereva, PhD (passed away) (BAS, Varna, Bulgaria)
Research project HYSULFCEL sponsored by FP7, bs.era-net program

18. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION!