SHyRE - Sulfuric acid and hydrogen production for the electronics industry through innovative recycling

Project: Research project

Project Details

Description

Electronic-grade sulfuric acid is an essential base chemical for the production of semiconductors, printed circuit boards and, in smaller quantities, also for pharmaceuticals. The high purity requirements cause high manufacturing costs and also high disposal costs, since economic processes for large-scale recycling of high-purity sulfuric acid are currently not available. The key criteria for evaluating new processes for sulfuric acid recycling include: Purity, energy requirements and initial cost of the plant. The presented process implements the core components of a nitrogen-reduced acid decomposition and an electrochemical cell to convert SO2 and H2O to H2SO4 and H2. The electrochemical cell produces high purity sulfuric acid as the main product and the carbon-free 'Ecofuel' hydrogen as a by-product. With the exception of a Pt catalyst, the electrochemical cell consists of non-metallic components and operates at low operating temperatures. This circumvents a key problem of conventional processes, in which impurities are produced by corrosion products of metallic surfaces with SO2, SO3 or the sulfuric acid. The acid decomposition is based on a hydrogen burner which is operated with 90% oxygen and a sulfuric acid atomization. The development and integration of a new type of nitrogen-reduced sulfuric acid decomposition process will lead to an intensification of the process. The energy input required for this is provided by hydrogen, and the emissions are thus CO2-free. The size of the plant as well as the energy demand of fans and compressors is reduced by a factor of 5-6 due to the process intensification. A further goal of this research project is the experimental proof of concept and subsequently the patenting of this type of acid decomposition and its components. The new process to be researched will enable the recycling of electronic-grade sulfuric acid by exploiting synergies of nitrogen-reduced acid decomposition and the electrochemical cell. The development and use of the electrochemical SO2 depolarized cell in combination with the sulfuric acid plant results in the added benefit that hydrogen can be produced with only one-third of the energy required for the classical electrolysis of water. By reducing energy requirements and acquisition costs, this lays the foundation for an ecologic and economic cycle.
StatusActive
Effective start/end date1/02/2331/01/26

Fingerprint

Explore the research topics touched on by this project. These labels are generated based on the underlying awards/grants. Together they form a unique fingerprint.