Sulfur production continues to rise
Sulfur is one of the world's most-popular commodities. It has another distinctive feature: most of it is produced from the effluent of chemical process plants. A lot more sulfur will have similar origins in the future as countries tighten up on sulfur emissions in a global effort to reduce acid rain. To meet such stricter controls, new sulfur recovery methods are being developed, and existing ones improved, to extract sulfur more efficiently and cheaply. Among the new developments are improvements in the Claus process--and alternatives to Claus--for the extraction of hydrogen sulfide (H[sub 2]S) from process streams; and new ways to recover elemental sulfur from sulfur dioxide (SO[sub 2]) contained in the flue gas of coal-fired plants. Currently, the common flue gas treatment is scrubbing with limestone or lime, but this produces millions of tons/yr of gypsum sludge that is mostly landfilled. Gypsum can be processed into wallboard, but that market is limited. The paper discusses the use of flue gas as a raw material; a versatile acid production process; alternative processes for H[sub 2]S extraction; and a process that recovers both sulfur and hydrogen.
- OSTI ID:
- 7041439
- Journal Information:
- Chemical Engineering (New York); (United States), Vol. 101:6; ISSN 0009-2460
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATION
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
EXHAUST GASES
DESULFURIZATION
FLUE GAS
SULFUR
MATERIALS RECOVERY
AIR POLLUTION CONTROL
SULFURIC ACID
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
CONTROL
ELEMENTS
FLUIDS
GASEOUS WASTES
GASES
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
INORGANIC ACIDS
MANAGEMENT
NONMETALS
POLLUTION CONTROL
PROCESSING
WASTE MANAGEMENT
WASTE PROCESSING
WASTES
010800* - Coal
Lignite
& Peat- Waste Management
320305 - Energy Conservation
Consumption
& Utilization- Industrial & Agricultural Processes- Industrial Waste Management
540120 - Environment
Atmospheric- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport- (1990-)