Claus tail-gas treatment with total sulfur recoveries up to 99.9+%. Liquid-phase conversion of H2S and SO2 into liquid elemental sulfur (S).
Claus tail gas is contacted countercurrently with an organic solvent in a low-pressure drop packed column (1). Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) and SO2 are absorbed in the solvent and react to form liquid elemental S according to the Claus reaction, which is promoted by an inexpensive dissolved catalyst. The solvent is pumped around the contactor (1), and the heat of reaction is removed through a heat exchanger (3) to maintain a constant temperature slightly above the sulfur melting point. Due to the limited solubility of S in the solvent, pure liquid S separates from the solvent and is recovered from a settling section (2) at the bottom of the contactor (1). This standard Clauspol II flow scheme allows S recovery up to 99.8% (Claus + Clauspol). The recovery level can be customized by adapting the size of the contactor (1).
The latest development is the optional solvent desaturation section (4). By removing the dissolved sulfur from the circulating solvent, the overall sulfur recovery can be raised up to 99.9+%.
For a Clauspol unit treating a typical Claus tail gas, in the 99.7–99.9% recovery, the CAPEX are typically 60–80% and OPEX 40–60% of those for a conventional hydrogenation/amine plant. Contrarily to the hydrogenation/amine process, Clauspol does not recycle any H2S to the Claus unit, thus saving Claus plant capacity.
Licensor: Prosernat IFP Group Technologies
