Apparatus for recovering sulfur from H2S and concurrent production of H2

Abstract

A method, apparatus and system for treating a stream containing H2S are disclosed. A preferred method comprises mixing the stream containing H2S with a light hydrocarbon stream and an oxygen containing stream to form a feed stream, contacting the feed stream with a catalyst for less than about 10000 microseconds while simultaneously raising the temperature of the stream sufficiently to allow oxidation of the H2S and partial oxidation of the light hydrocarbon to produce a product stream containing elemental sulfur, CO and hydrogen, and cooling the product stream sufficiently to condense at least a portion of the elemental sulfur and produce a tail gas. A preferred method further includes the step of processing the tail gas so as to react CO in the tail gas with water to produce CO2 and hydrogen and so as to convert elemental sulfur, SO2, COS, and CS2 in the tail gas into H2S, the step of contacting the tail gas with an alkanolamine absorber to produce a treated tail gas, and the step of producing H2 from the treated tail gas.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.