Sulfur recovery technology

Conference · Wed Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1986

OSTI ID:5599326

Goar, B G

The production of sour natural gas and the refining of higher sulfur content crude oils is increasing in the world today. The need to recover sulfur from hydrogen sulfide produced from such sources is also on the rise. In today's society there is an increased concern about the potential threat of air pollution to the well-being of mankind. Therefore, the various technologies for removing and converting hydrogen sulfide to elemental sulfur are gaining increased importance in industry. The Claus process was invented by an English scientist named Carl Friedrich Claus and a patent was issued to him in late 1883. In 1938, a German company called I.G. Fabenindustrie A.G. made a significant modification to the original Claus process; and thus, the Modified Claus Process was born. Today the majority of sour gas that is processed in the United States and throughout the world, and the majority of sour crude oil refined in the world produces hydrogen sulfide which is eventually converted to elemental sulfur by the Claus process. Other technologies have emerged down through the years; but, none have ever come close to making the impact on industry that the Claus process has achieved. It is estimated that some 90 to 95% of recovered sulfur in the world today is produced by the Claus process. There are over 380 Claus plants (specific locations) in operation throughout the world. It is estimated that when these plants are in full production, something like 60,000 long tons per day (LTPD) of sulfur can be produced from these plants.

• OSTI ID: 5599326
• Report Number(s): CONF-860447-
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
020300* -- Petroleum-- Drilling & Production
03 NATURAL GAS
030300 -- Natural Gas-- Drilling
Production
& Processing
500200 -- Environment
Atmospheric-- Chemicals Monitoring & Transport-- (-1989)
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
AIR POLLUTION ABATEMENT
CHALCOGENIDES
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
CLAUS PROCESS
DESULFURIZATION
ELEMENTS
ENERGY SOURCES
FLUIDS
FOSSIL FUELS
FUEL GAS
FUELS
GAS FUELS
GASES
GLOBAL ASPECTS
HISTORICAL ASPECTS
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
HYDROGEN SULFIDES
NATURAL GAS
NONMETALS
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PETROLEUM
POLLUTION ABATEMENT
PRODUCTION
REMOVAL
SULFIDES
SULFUR
SULFUR COMPOUNDS
SULFUR CONTENT
SULFUR DIOXIDE
SULFUR OXIDES