A process plant and a process for production of sulfur from a feedstock gas including from 15% to 100 vol % H.sub.2S and a stream of sulfuric acid, the process including a) providing a Claus reaction furnace feed stream with a substoichiometric amount of oxygen, b) directing to a Claus reaction furnace operating at elevated temperature, c) cooling to provide a cooled Claus converter feed gas, d) directing to contact a material catalytically active in the Claus reaction, e) withdrawing a Claus tail gas and elementary sulfur, f) directing a stream comprising said Claus tail gas to a Claus tail gas treatment, wherein sulfuric acid directed to said Claus reaction furnace is in the form of droplets with 90% of the mass of the droplets having a diameter below 500 μm, with the associated benefit of such a process efficiently converting all liquid H.sub.2SO.sub.4 to gaseous H.sub.2SO.sub.4 and further to SO.sub.2.

Described is a control process for oxidation air management in a sulfur recovery unit. The sulfur recovery unit includes a gas feedstock inlet, an oxidation air inlet, a reaction furnace, pre-heaters, a Claus section including multiple sulfur condensers and Claus converters, and a SuperClaus section including a catalyzing SuperClaus converter, a SuperClaus sulfur condenser, and an SuperClaus oxidation air flow control valve. The control process includes analyzing one or more parameters in the sulfur recovery unit to determine a switch from the SuperClaus section to the Claus section. Additionally, conditions in the sulfur recovery unit are continuously monitored so that when a condition reaches a predetermined threshold or range, the SuperClaus oxidation air flow control valve to the SuperClaus section is opened.

A process and a process plant for production of elemental sulfur from a feedstock gas including from 15 vol % to 100 vol % H2S and a stream of sulfuric acid, the process including a) providing a Claus reaction furnace feed stream with a substoichiometric amount of oxygen, b) directing s to a reaction furnace operating at elevated temperature, c) cooling, d) directing to contact a material catalytically active in the Claus reaction, e) withdrawing a Claus tail gas and elemental sulfur, f) directing to a means for sulfur oxidation, g) directing to contact a material catalytically active in SO2 oxidation to SO3, h) converting to concentrated sulfuric acid, i) recycling to the Claus reaction furnace, wherein an amount of combustibles, in the Claus tail gas, is oxidized in the presence of a material catalytically active in sulfur oxidation, at an inlet temperature below 400° C.

A process for production of elemental sulfur from a feedstock gas including from 15% to 100 vol % H2S and a stream of sulfuric acid, the process including: a) providing a Claus reaction furnace feed stream substoichiometric oxygen with respect to the Claus reaction, b) directing to a reaction furnace zone operating at elevated temperature such as above 900° C., c) directing to a sulfuric acid evaporation zone downstream said reaction furnace zone, d) cooling to provide a cooled Claus converter feed gas, e) directing to contact a material catalytically active in the Claus reaction, f) withdrawing a Claus tail gas and elemental sulfur, g) directing to a Claus tail gas treatment plant, with the associated benefit of a process involving injection of sulfuric acid in a sulfuric acid evaporation zone allowing high temperature combustion of said feedstock gas, including impurities, without cooling from evaporation and decomposition of sulfuric acid.

A process and a process plant for production of elemental sulfur from a feedstock gas including from 15 vol % to 100 vol % H2S and a stream of sulfuric acid, the process including a) providing a Claus reaction furnace feed stream with a substoichiometric amount of oxygen, b) directing s to a reaction furnace operating at elevated temperature, c) cooling, d) directing to contact a material catalytically active in the Claus reaction, e) withdrawing a Claus tail gas and elemental sulfur, f) directing to a means for sulfur oxidation, g) directing to contact a material catalytically active in SO2 oxidation to SO3, h) converting to concentrated sulfuric acid, i) recycling to the Claus reaction furnace, wherein an amount of combustibles, in the Claus tail gas, is oxidized in the presence of a material catalytically active in sulfur oxidation, at an inlet temperature below 400° C.

Methods and systems are provided for treating the tail gas stream of a sulfur recovery plant. The methods including generating a tail gas stream from a sulfur recovery plant, treating the tail gas stream with a hydrogen sulfide removal unit and a hydrogen selective membrane unit, generating a stream low in hydrogen sulfide and a stream rich in hydrogen. The hydrogen sulfide rich stream is recycled to the sulfur recovery unit. The hydrogen selective membrane unit includes a glassy polymer membrane selective for hydrogen over hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide.

A revamp process for modifying a sulfur abatement plant including a Claus process plant, the Claus process plant including a Claus reaction furnace and one or more Claus conversion stages, each Claus conversion stage including a conversion reactor and a means for elemental sulfur condensation, and a means of Claus tail gas oxidation configured for receiving a Claus tail gas from said Claus process plant and configured for providing an oxidized Claus tail gas, the process revamp including: a) providing a sulfuric acid producing tail gas treatment plant producing sulfuric acid, and b) providing a means for transferring an amount or all of the sulfuric acid produced in said sulfuric acid producing tail gas treatment plant to said Claus reaction furnace, wherein the moles of sulfur in the transferred sulfuric acid relative to the moles of elemental sulfur withdrawn from the Claus process plant is from 3% to 25%.

Methods and systems are provided for treating the tail gas stream of a sulfur recovery plant. The methods including generating a tail gas stream from a sulfur recovery plant, treating the tail gas stream with a hydrogen sulfide removal unit and a hydrogen selective membrane unit, generating a stream low in hydrogen sulfide and a stream rich in hydrogen. The hydrogen sulfide rich stream is recycled to the sulfur recovery unit. The hydrogen selective membrane unit includes a glassy polymer membrane selective for hydrogen over hydrogen sulfide and carbon dioxide.

A method and apparatus for processing a hydrocarbon gas stream including sulfurous components and carbon dioxide. The hydrocarbon gas stream is separated into a sweetened gas stream and an acid gas stream. The acid gas stream and an air stream, enriched with oxygen such that the air stream comprises between 22% and 100% oxygen, are combusted in a sulfur recovery unit to separate the acid gas stream into a liquid stream of elemental sulfur and a tail gas stream comprising acid gas impurities. The tail gas stream and an air flow are sub-stoichiometrically combusted to produce an outlet stream comprising hydrogen sulfide and carbon monoxide. The outlet stream is hydrogenated to convert sulfur species to a gaseous catalytic output stream comprising hydrogen sulfide. Water is removed from the gaseous catalytic output stream to produce a partially-dehydrated acid gas stream, which is pressurized and injected into a subsurface reservoir.

The invention relates to an installation and a method for treating hydrogen sulphide. In particular, the invention relates to an installation and a method comprising at least one system for oxidizing hydrogen sulfide to sulfur (S) and water (H.sub.2O) with a solid reagent and at least one oxidizing system with an agent for oxidizing the solid reagent present in the reduced state, wherein the system of oxidizing the hydrogen sulfide to sulfur and the system for oxidizing the solid reagent, are so arranged that the hydrogen sulfide is not brought into contact with the agent oxidizing the solid reagent.