US 4,202,864 AGranted

Process for controlling environmental pollution from steam containing hydrogen sulfide

AssigneeDeuterium Corporation

InventorJerome S. Spevack

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Abstract

Certain impure steams, especially those from geothermal sources, are polluted with hydrogen sulfide, ammonia, carbon dioxide, other gases, and finely divided particulate solid matter in a form resembling dust or smoke. These contaminants reduce the efficiency of the steam as a heat transfer fluid, are detrimental to equipment utilizing steam as an energy source, and result in environmental pollution or expensive requirements for limiting the same. By the invention herein so polluted steam is selectively processed in the gaseous state upstream of said equipment to remove hydrogen sulfide therefrom, with or without removing other pollutants, to reduce environmental pollution from effluents thereof, to recover valuable materials therefrom, and to improve the utility of the steam as an energy source. This is done by contacting a flow of the steam with aqueous liquid reactant media consisting essentially of one or more reactive compounds of certain metals which form solid metal sulfide reaction products and which preferably are electropositive with respect to hydrogen. The valuable materials subsequently may be recovered from said media as useful byproducts. The reactant compounds may be recycled and may be regenerated from the metal sulfide reaction products.

Claims69

Dependent claims

A process for controlling pollution of the environment by discharges from a system which utilizes a flow of steam at superatmospheric pressure, said steam being from a source of superatmospheric pressure and containing minor amounts of noncondensable gases including hydrogen sulfide as impurities therein, which process comprises:

(a) providing an aqueous liquid phase containing reactant dispersed therein, said reactant comprising at least a metal compound having the capability of undergoing reaction with aqueous hydrogen sulfide at the temperature and in the presence of said flow of steam to form a solid metal sulfide reaction product suspended in said liquid, said metal sulfide having a solubility product, a 25.degree. C., smaller than 10.times.10.sup.-15,
(b) contacting at elevated temperature and superatmospheric pressure said flow of impure steam with said aqueous liquid to extract hydrogen sulfide from said impure steam by transferring the same into said liquid and effecting said reaction with hydrogen sulfide therein at said elevated temperature,
(c) delivering from step (b) the resultant aqueous liquid and solid reaction product and the resultant flow of steam, at substantially said elevated temperature and superatmospheric pressure, containing noncondensable gases but depleted in hydrogen sulfide, and
(d) making the aforesaid discharges from said system to the environment from said resultants delivered in step (c), whereby such discharges are substantially free of hydrogen sulfide.

1 more element

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Facts

Application: 05/938,942Filed 1 Sep 1978 · division
Priority: 6 Aug 1976
Granted: 13 May 1980
Term ends: Not estimatedThe source records don’t support an estimate.

Classification15 codes

C01G 9/08
Compounds of zinc: sulfides
B01D 53/34
Separation of gases or vapours; Recovering vapours of volatile solvents from gases; Chemical or biological purification of waste gases, e.g.…:…
B01D 53/52
Sulfur compounds: hydrogen sulfide
C01B 17/20
Sulfur; Compounds thereof: methods for preparing sulfides or polysulfides, in general