Hydrogen sulfide production streams

The recovered hydrogen sulfide gas stream may be (1) vented, (2) flared in waste gas flares or modern smokeless flares, (3) incinerated, or (4) utilized for the production of elemental sulfur or sulfuric acid. If the recovered H2S gas stream is not to be utilized as a feedstock for commercial applications, the... 

Hot product char carries heat into the entrained bed to obtain the high heat-transfer rates required. Feed coal must be dried and pulverized. A portion of the char recovered from the reactor product stream is cooled and discharged as product. The remainder is reheated to 650—870°C in a char heater blown with air. Gases from the reactor are cooled and scmbbed free of product tar. Hydrogen sulfide is removed from the gas, and a portion is recycled to serve as the entrainment medium. 

Sulfur, another inorganic petrochemical, is obtained by the oxidation of hydrogen sulfide 2H2S + O2 — 2H2 0 + 2S. Hydrogen sulfide is a constituent of natural gas and also of the majority of refinery gas streams, especially those off-gases from hydrodesulfurization processes. A majority of the sulfur is converted to sulfuric acid for the manufacture of fertilizers and other chemicals. Other uses for sulfur include the production of carbon disulfide, refined sulfur, and pulp and paper industry chemicals. 

Economic Aspects. Most hydrogen sulfide is made and used captively or sold by pipeline at prices which are highly variable, depending on locahty. Production ia the United States exceeds 1.1 X 10 t/yr-It has been estimated that 2.4 x 10 t/yr of sulfur are recovered from H2S-containing refinery streams and 1.8 x 10 t/yr of sulfur are recovered from H S-containing natural gas (120). 

Conversion Processes. Most of the adsorption and absorption processes remove hydrogen sulfide from sour gas streams thus producing both a sweetened product stream and an enriched hydrogen sulfide stream. In addition to the hydrogen sulfide, this latter stream can contain other co-absorbed species, potentially including carbon dioxide, hydrocarbons, and other sulfur compounds. Conversion processes treat the hydrogen sulfide stream to recover the sulfur as a salable product. 

In a modem carbon disulfide plant, all operations are continuous and under automatic control. On-stream times in excess of 90% are obtainable. The process is in three steps melting and purification of sulfur production and purification of carbon disulfide and recovery of sulfur from by-product hydrogen sulfide. A typical process appears in the flow diagram of Figure 1 (50). 

The delayed coking feed stream of residual oils from various upstream processes is first introduced to a fractionating tower where residual lighter materials are drawn off and the heavy ends are condensed. The heavy ends are removed and heated in a furnace to about 900 to 1,000 F and then fed to an insulated vessel called a coke drum where the coke is formed. When the coke drum is filled with product, the feed is switched to an empty parallel drum. Hot vapors from the coke drums, containing cracked lighter hydrocarbon products, hydrogen sulfide, and ammonia, are fed back to the fractionator where they can be treated in the sour gas treatment system or drawn off as intermediate products. 

Effect of HjS, Carbon Oxides, Etc. Hydrogen sulfide in the treat gas has an inhibiting effect on the kinetics of hydrotreating. Being a product of the desulfurization reactions, HjS must diffuse from the catalyst surface into the bulk gas stream. Any HjS present beyond that formed, further slows down the rate of diffusion with a consequent decrease in the amount of desulfurization for a given amount of catalyst. Therefore, additional catalyst would be required. 

The gas plant products, namely fuel gas, Cfs, 4, and gasoline, contain sulfur compounds that require treatment. Impurities in the gas plant products are acidic in nature. Examples include hydrogen sulfide (HjS), carbon dioxide (COj), mercaptan (R-SH), phenol (ArOH), and naphthenic acids (R-COOH). Carbonyl and elemental sulfur may also be present in the above streams. These compounds are acidic. 

The LPG stream containing a mixture of C s and C4 s must be treated to remove hydrogen sulfide and mercaptan. This produces a noncorrosive, less odorous, and less hazardous product. The C s and C4 s from the debutanizer accumulator flow to the bottom of the H S contactor. The operation of this contactor is similar to that of the fuel gas absorber, except that this is a liquid-liquid contactor. 

Sulfa-scrub A process for removing low concentrations of hydrogen sulfide from gas streams by reaction with hexahydrotriazine. The product is water-soluble, non-corosive, and non-hazardous. Developed by the Quaker Petroleum Chemical Company in 1991. 

SuRe [Sulphur recovery] A version of the Claus process in which the capacity of the plant is increased by using air enriched in oxygen in the production of the sulfur dioxide. There are two versions SURE SSB [Side Stream Burner], and SURE DC [Double Combustion], In the first, a small portion of the feed stream containing hydrogen sulfide is burnt sub-stoichiometrically in a second burner in the second, the hydrogen sulfide is oxidized in two stages, with cooling and sulfur separation between them. Both of these... 

The produced fluids and gases are typically directed into separation vessels. Under the influence of gravity, pressure, heat, retention times, and sometimes electrical fields, separation of the various phases of gas, oil, and water occurs so that they can be drawn off in separate streams. Suspended solids such as sediment and salt will also be removed. Deadly hydrogen sulfide (H2S), is sometimes also encountered, which is extracted simultaneously with the petroleum production. Crude oil containing H2S can be shipped by pipeline and used as a refinery feed but it is undesirable for tanker or long pipeline transport. The normal commercial concentration of impurities in crude oil sales is usually less than 0.5% BS W (Basic Sediment and Water) and 10 Ptb (Pounds of salt per 1,000 barrels of oil). The produced liquids and gases are then transported to a gas plant or refinery by truck, railroad tank car, ship, or pipeline. Large oil field areas normally have direct outlets to major, common-carrier pipelines. 

The catalyst is necessary to ensure that the components react with reasonable speed, bnt unfortnnately, the reaction does not always proceed to completion. For this reason, two or three stages are nsed, with sulfur being removed between the stages. For analysts it is valuable to know that carbon disulfide (CS2) is a by-product from the reaction in the high-temperature furnace. The carbon disulfide can be destroyed catalytically before it enters the catalytic section proper. Generally, the Clans process may remove only about 90% of the hydrogen sulfide in the gas stream, and as already noted, other processes, such as the Beaven process, SCOT process, or Wellman-Lord process are often used to recover additional sulfur. 

Figure 6 Hydrotreating process. Hydrogen reacts with hydrocarbon feed to remove sulfur from the stream. The formed hydrogen sulfide is steam-stripped from the product. (From Ref. 2.)...

The first major source of recovered sulfur from H2S containing natural gas was the Lacq field in southern France developed by SNPA in the mid 1950 s. This 15% H2S containing gas stream was the forerunner of many subsequent sour gas developments around the world. In the early days of sour gas production the major product sought after was the methane hydrogen sulfide and... 

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