Method for production of sulfur and sulfuric acid
AssigneeHaldor TopsøE A/S
InventorMads LYKKE
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Abstract
A process plant including a Claus reaction furnace, a means of Claus gas cooling, a Claus conversion section, a means for Claus tail gas oxidation and a sulfuric acid section, wherein a sulfuric acid outlet of the sulfuric acid section is in fluid communication with an inlet of said Claus reaction furnace, as well as a related process. The process has the associated benefit of such a process avoiding undesired production of sulfuric acid, as well as reducing the Claus process gas volume.
Claims25
A process for production of sulfur from a feedstock gas comprising 30 vol % to 100 vol % H2S and a recycled stream of sulfuric acid, the process comprising:
- a. providing a Claus reaction furnace feed stream comprising said feedstock gas, an amount of recycled sulfuric acid, an amount of oxygen and optionally an amount of fuel, wherein the amount of oxygen is substoichiometric;
- b. directing said Claus reaction furnace feed stream to a Claus reaction furnace operating at elevated temperature such as above 900° C., providing a Claus converter feed gas;
- c. cooling said Claus converter feed gas to provide a cooled Claus converter feed gas and optionally an amount of elemental sulfur;
- d. directing said cooled Claus converter feed gas to contact a material catalytically active in the Claus reaction;
- e. withdrawing a Claus tail gas and elementary sulfur, optionally by cooling the effluent from said material catalytically active in the Claus reaction;
- f. directing a stream comprising said Claus tail gas, oxygen and a fuel as a feedstock gas to a means for Claus tail gas oxidation operating at a temperature above 900° C. and/or a catalytic means for oxidation providing an SO2 converter feed gas;
- g. directing said SO2 converter feed gas to contact a material catalytically active in SO2 oxidation to SO3, providing an SO3 rich gas;
- and
- h. converting said SO3 rich gas to concentrated sulfuric acid and a SO3 depleted gas, either by absorption of SO3 in sulfuric acid or by hydration of SO3, cooling and condensation of sulfuric acid,
- wherein said recycled stream of sulfuric acid comprises an amount of said concentrated sulfuric acid and wherein the concentrated sulfuric acid contains from 90% w/w to 98.5% w/w H2SO4.
A process plant comprising a Claus reaction furnace, a means of Claus gas cooling, a Claus conversion section, a means for Claus tail gas oxidation and a sulfuric acid section, wherein the Claus reaction furnace has an inlet and an outlet, the means of Claus gas cooling has a gas inlet, a gas outlet and an elemental sulfur outlet, the Claus conversion section has a gas inlet, a gas outlet and an elemental sulfur outlet, the means for Claus tail gas oxidation has a Claus tail gas inlet, a Claus tail gas oxidant inlet, an optional fuel inlet and optionally a further feedstock inlet and an outlet and the sulfuric acid section has a gas inlet, a gas outlet and a sulfuric acid outlet, and wherein the inlet of the Claus reaction furnace is configured for receiving a feedstock gas, sulfuric acid and a Claus reaction furnace oxidant, and the outlet of the Claus reaction furnace is configured for being in fluid communication with the inlet of the means of Claus gas cooling, wherein the outlet of the means of Claus gas cooling is configured for being in fluid communication with the inlet of the Claus conversion section and wherein the Claus tail gas inlet of the means for Claus tail gas oxidation is configured for being in fluid communication with the outlet of said Claus conversion section gas outlet, the process gas outlet of the means for Claus tail gas oxidation is configured for being in fluid communication with the inlet of the sulfuric acid section, characterized further in the sulfuric acid outlet of the sulfuric acid section being in fluid communication with the inlet of said Claus reaction furnace.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.