Sulphur-burning and gaseous products absorption system and components therefor

A sulphur-burning system including:

• a sulphur-burning tower having a bottom wall, a sidewall, and a dimension of height, with a level at which sulphur is to be burned, there being a primary air inlet into said tower at a first elevation above said surface and a secondary air inlet at a second elevation above said first elevation, air supply means for supplying air to said air inlets, a temperature sensor in said tower above said second elevation, valve means disposed between said air supply means and each of said air inlets, valve control means responsive to said temperature sensor and adapted to control the said valve means and thereby to control air flow into said inlets, whereby to maintain a substantially constant temperature at said temperature sensor;
• an absorption tower for the absorption of gases produced from the aforesaid sulphur-burning tower comprising a tank having a fluid-tight sidewall and bottom, a gas entry port at a first elevation, a water entry port at a second higher elevation, and between them a randomly packed column of lengths of tubing, the surfaces of said tubings being formed of material which is not wetted by water or by water containing the gases absorbed in the tank, and an outlet below the said gas entry port;
• a conduit supplying gas from the sulphur-burning tower to the gas entry port;
• a conduit supplying water to the water entry port;
• a lateral connection between said gas supplying conduit and said water supplying conduit whereby gas from the sulphur-burning tower entering the absorption tower is precooled by water flowing through the lateral connection into said gas supplying conduit;
• a peripheral skirt disposed inside the sulphur-burning tower between the said two elevations and space from the inside wall of the tower so as to leave a closed-at-its-top annular region therebetween, the primary air inlet discharging into the said annular region, the sulphur-burning tower including a peripheral sidewall member and a bottom member which adjoin one another with a leakage passage formed therebetween;
• an alignment flange formed on one of said last-named members to make a telescopic fit with the other of said members;
• and cooling means for cooling the said leakage passage in order to solidify previously molten sulphur and thereby form a seal therein, said cooling means comprising a coolant conduit extending peripherally around both of said last-named members adjacent to said leakage passage;
• and ebullition prevention means beneath the surface of the sulphur adapted to cool the region just below the surface of the sulphur to the extent required to prevent violent ebullition and expansive bubbling of the surface of the sulphur.