his is a testimonial related to the practice of United States Patent US 9,290,386 B2, patented March 22, 2016, invented by James A. Wasas, the Chief Science Officer at Standard Hydrogen Company, Inc. The patent in the testimonial is the thermo decomposition of a toxic gas, hydrogen sulfide (H2S), that is a common contaminate in natural gas wells, to produce hydrogen (H2) as a fuel. Because of its high concentration, many wells are capped and are not serviced. It would be great if there was a method to remove the H2S (g) from these wells so that the natural gas and hydrogen (H2) can be used as a clean energy source.
I hosted James in a temporary laboratory space in one of my laboratories here at Rutgers Chemistry Department. During this temporary use of my laboratory, I was familiar with the day-to-day operations of this arrangement and I observed the different experiments carried out using elemental Sulfur to degrade different polymer waste. This showed me how dedicated James was to perfecting his inventions and his knowledge of chemistry and engineering principles.
One experiment of interest that I observed was the thermo decomposition of H2S (g) to its products. James Wasas developed and used a special proprietary material to decompose H2S(g).
H2S(g) + heat → H2(g) + S(s) (1)
To verify this reaction, Ray Stenger, James’ research partner, ignited the output from the reactor in which the heated reaction took place. However, we could not see any flame. Subsequently, Ray put his hand over this invisible flame, and he got burnt. Therefore, I was a witness to the generation of H2(g) in reaction as I observed the invisible clean burning H2(g) flame burn Ray’s hand. This simple decomposition reaction of H2S(g) to H2(g) is a nice and simple reaction to purify contaminated natural gas wells and to produce a clean burning fuel H2(g).
Disclaimer: I did not receive any payment for this testimonial. In addition, this testimonial is not intended as an endorsement or recommendation for investments in any company.
Sincerely,
Gene S. Hall, Ph.D.
Professor of Analytical Chemistry
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey