KINETICS OF DIRECT OXIDATION OF H2S IN COAL GAS TO ELEMENTAL SULFUR

The direct oxidation of H{sub 2}S to elemental sulfur in the presence of SO{sub 2} is ideally suited for coal gas from commercial gasifiers with a quench system to remove essentially all the trace contaminants except H{sub 2}S. This direct oxidation process has the potential to produce a super clean coal gas more economically than both conventional amine-based processes and the hot-gas desulfurization using regenerable metal oxide sorbents followed by Direct Sulfur Recovery Process. The objective of this research is to support the near- and long-term process development efforts to commercialize this direct oxidation technology. The objectives of this research are to measure kinetics of direct oxidation of H{sub 2}S to elemental sulfur in the presence of a simulated coal gas mixture containing SO{sub 2}, H{sub 2}, and moisture, using 160-{micro}m C-500-04 alumina catalyst particles and a micro bubble reactor, and to develop kinetic rate equations and model the direct oxidation process to assist in the design of large-scale plants. This heterogeneous catalytic reaction has gaseous reactants such as H{sub 2}S and SO{sub 2}. However, this heterogeneous catalytic reaction has heterogeneous products such as liquid elemental sulfur and steam. To achieve the above-mentioned objectives, experiments on conversion of hydrogen sulfide into liquid elemental sulfur were carried out for the space time range of 0.059-0.87 seconds at 125-155 C to evaluate effects of reaction temperature, H{sub 2}S concentration, reaction pressure, and catalyst loading on conversion of hydrogen sulfide into liquid elemental sulfur. Simulated coal gas mixtures consist of 62-78 v% hydrogen, 3,000-7,000-ppmv hydrogen sulfide, 1,500-3,500 ppmv sulfur dioxide, and 10 vol % moisture, and nitrogen as remainder. Volumetric feed rates of a simulated coal gas mixture to a micro bubble reactor are 50 cm{sup 3}/min at room temperature and atmospheric pressure. The temperature of the reactor is controlled in an oven at 125-155 C. The pressure of the reactor is maintained at 40-170 psia. The molar ratio of H{sub 2}S to SO{sub 2} in the bubble reactor is maintained at 2 for all the reaction experiment runs