Methods and apparatus for sulfur recovery from acid gases
AssigneeBlack & Veatch Corporation
InventorJustin A. Lamar
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Apparatus and methods for recovering sulfur from acid gases. Acid gases containing relatively high amounts of carbonyl sulfide and/or one or more types of mercaptans can be treated in a sulfur recovery system employing an acid gas enrichment zone and a tail gas treatment zone, where partially-loaded sulfur absorbing solvent from the tail gas treatment zone is employed for sulfur absorption in the acid gas enrichment zone. Off-gas from the acid gas enrichment zone can be combined and hydrogenated with a sulfur recovery unit tail gas thereby increasing the total amount of sulfur recovery from the initial acid gas.
Claims27
A process for recovering sulfur from an acid gas comprising hydrogen sulfide, said method comprising:
- contacting said acid gas with a partially-loaded sulfur absorbing solvent in an acid gas enrichment zone to thereby produce a hydrogen sulfide rich sulfur absorbing solvent and a hydrogen sulfide depleted off-gas, wherein said hydrogen sulfide depleted off-gas comprises hydrogen sulfide in an amount of at least 0.5 mole percent, wherein prior to said contacting, said partially-loaded sulfur absorbing solvent comprises hydrogen sulfide in an amount of at least 0.01 mole percent, and wherein said hydrogen sulfide depleted off-gas comprises carbonyl sulfide and one or more types of mercaptans in a combined concentration of at least 0.037 mole percent;
- and
- hydrogenating at least a portion of said hydrogen sulfide depleted off-gas thereby converting at least a portion of said mercaptans and/or said carbonyl sulfide in said hydrogen sulfide depleted off-gas to hydrogen sulfide.
A process for recovering sulfur from an acid gas comprising hydrogen sulfide, said process comprising:
- (a) contacting said acid gas in an acid gas enrichment zone with a partially-loaded sulfur absorbing solvent to thereby produce a hydrogen sulfide rich sulfur absorbing solvent and a hydrogen sulfide depleted off-gas;
- (b) removing at least a portion of said hydrogen sulfide from said hydrogen sulfide rich sulfur absorbing solvent to thereby produce an enriched hydrogen sulfide stream and a regenerated sulfur absorbing solvent;
- and
- (c) contacting at least a portion of said regenerated sulfur absorbing solvent with a hydrogenated stream containing hydrogen sulfide to thereby produce said partially-loaded sulfur absorbing solvent,
- wherein the hydrogen sulfide content of said hydrogen sulfide rich sulfur absorbing solvent is at least 2.6 mole percent.
A process for recovering sulfur from an acid gas comprising hydrogen sulfide, said method comprising contacting said acid gas with a partially-loaded sulfur absorbing solvent in an acid gas enrichment zone to thereby produce a hydrogen sulfide rich sulfur absorbing solvent and a hydrogen sulfide depleted off-gas, wherein said hydrogen sulfide depleted off-gas comprises hydrogen sulfide in an amount of at least 0.5 mole percent, wherein prior to said contacting, said partially-loaded sulfur absorbing solvent comprises hydrogen sulfide in an amount of at least 0.01 mole percent, wherein said partially-loaded sulfur absorbing solvent is formed in a tail gas treatment zone upstream of said acid gas enrichment zone by contacting a regenerated sulfur absorbing solvent with a tail gas treatment feed stream, wherein said tail-gas treatment feed stream is prepared by hydrogenating a hydrogenation feed stream comprising a Claus tail gas produced during a Claus sulfur recovery process and at least a portion of a hydrogen sulfide depleted off-gas.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.