The experimental study discussed in this paper focused on increasing the hydrogen yield from direct dissociation of hydrogen sulfide in a gliding-arc discharge. The specific energy input to plasma in this study was noticeably higher than in previous studies involving H2S dissociation in gliding arc plasmatron (GAP) and gliding arc "tornado" (GAT) reactors. Several different techniques were used to increase the quenching rate of the reactor effluent mixture to prevent undesirable reverse reactions. The highest hydrogen yield obtained in this study was 65%, which was achieved at a specific energy input (SEI) of 1.52 eV/molecule and a correspohding specific energy requirement (SER) of 2.64 eV/molecule. Moreover, a detailed investigation of the dependence of SER on conversion degree was conducted over a wide range of SEI, which is necessary for process optimization from an economic standpoint. (C) 2016 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.