Petroleum sulfur from

Petroleum. Apart from its use ia petrochemicals manufacture, there are a number of small, scattered uses of lime ia petroleum (qv) production. These are ia making red lime (drilling) muds, calcium-based lubricating grease, neutralization of organic sulfur compounds and waste acid effluents, water treatment ia water flooding (secondary oil recovery), and use of lime and pozzolans for cementing very deep oil wells. 

The term naphthenic acid, as commonly used in the petroleum industry, refers collectively to all of the carboxyUc acids present in cmde oil. Naphthenic acids [1338-24-5] are classified as monobasic carboxyUc acids of the general formula RCOOH, where R represents the naphthene moiety consisting of cyclopentane and cyclohexane derivatives. Naphthenic acids are composed predorninandy of aLkyl-substituted cycloaUphatic carboxyUc acids, with smaller amounts of acycHc aUphatic (paraffinic or fatty) acids. Aromatic, olefinic, hydroxy, and dibasic acids are considered to be minor components. Commercial naphthenic acids also contain varying amounts of unsaponifiable hydrocarbons, phenoHc compounds, sulfur compounds, and water. The complex mixture of acids is derived from straight-mn distillates of petroleum, mosdy from kerosene and diesel fractions (see Petroleum). 

Self-Test K.3A In the Claus process for the recovery of sulfur from natural gas and petroleum, hydrogen sulfide reacts with sulfur dioxide to form elemental sulfur and water 2 H2S(g) + S02(g) — 3 S(s) + 2 H20(1). Identify the oxidizing agent and the reducing agent. 

Atlantic Richfield Company has reported strains of Pseudomonas sp. CB1 (ATCC 39381) [108] and Acinetobacter species CB2 [109] (ATCC 53515) to be effective for the removal of sulfur from organic molecules found in petroleum, coal, etc. In fact, the aerobic and heterotrophic soil microorganisms Pseudomonas CB1 and Acinetobacter CB2 were reported to convert thiophene sulfur into sulfate, using a bench-scale continuous bioreactor. The direct contact with Illinois 6 coal reduced the organic sulfur content in about 40% to 50%. As already mentioned, most of this work was carried out on coal. Further work was not pursued probably due to decrease in coal usage or due to the economics of the processes. 

ZoBell, C. E. Process for removing sulfur from petroleum hydrocarbons and apparatus. Patent No. US2641564. 

Climax A process for making sodium sulfate from sulfuric acid and sodium chloride. Sulfuric acid is sprayed onto a hot fluidized bed of sodium chloride. The products are granular sodium sulfate and hydrogen chloride gas. Invented in 1967 by C. K. Curtis later developed and commercialized by C. W. Cannon at the Climax Chemical Company at Midland, NM, in the 1970s. Midland was a favorable location because of the proximity of mineral salt and sulfur from petroleum and the availability of cheap transport of the product from the site. French Patent 1,549,938. 

Pitch Coke and Petroleum Coke Pitch coke is made from coal-tar pitch, and petroleum coke is made from petroleum residues from petroleum refining. Pitch coke has about 1.0 percent volatile matter, 1.0 percent ash, and less than 0.5 percent sulfur on the as-received basis. There are two kinds of petroleum coke delayed coke and fluid coke. Delayed coke is produced by heating a gas oil or heavier feedstock to... 

Energy Biosystems Corporation has developed a biocatalytic pilot plant that removes sulfur from crude oil. The biocatalyst is based on a soil bacterium isolated for its ability to selectively desulfurize fossil fuels. The relevant genes from these bacteria have been isolated and are being manipulated and transferred to alternative microbial hosts to increase expression of the desired properties. This leads to increased efficiency of the process. Currently, this technology is being optimized for eventual commercialization for the petroleum industry. 

Techniques for purification of acid gas streams by removal of H2S, COS and carbon dioxide are standard technology. Recovery of elemental sulfur from these acid gas streams by use of Claus or Stretford units is also conventional technology. These technologies are being practiced on a large scale by both petroleum refiners and natural gas processors. 

In 1979 sulfur obtained as a by-product from petroleum refining accounted for 19.7 percent of total sulfur produced in the U.S. The requirement to desulfurize residual fuels or alternatively to refine them to finished transportation fuels will result in a substantial increase in sulfur produced at refineries even if medium sweet crudes continue to be the primary refinery feedstock. However, most experts predict that crudes will become sourer in the future. The contribution from natural gas is an additional uncertainty. Conventional wisdom predicts that natural gas demand will maintain current levels or possibly decline over the next 20 years. The combination of these factors may increase conventional by-product sulfur from petroleum and natural gas by a factor of three or more by the year 2000. This would bring its sulfur contribution up to approximately 12 million tons by 2000, the same as that predicted by the MITRE estimate for synthetic fuels sulfur production. Thus, a possible total contribution of 60 percent of projected sulfur demand could be met by the combination of these by-product sources of sulfur. 

World sulfur supplies are expected to grow at roughly 3.7% per year over the coming decade as compared with 2.6% per year from 1973 to 1980. Sulfur production will grow markedly in the United States, primarily due to increased recovery of sulfur from natural gas processing and petroleum refining. 

The sulfur content of petroleum varies from less than 0.05 to more than 14 wt% but generally falls in the range 1 to 4 wt%. Petroleum with less than 1 wt% sulfur is referred to as low-sulfur, and that with more than 1 wt% sulfur is referred to as high-sulfur. The refining industry considers heavy oils, residua, and bitumen to be high-sulfur feedstocks. Hence they are the focus of many conversion and desulfurization scenarios. 

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