A process plant including a Claus reaction furnace, a means of Claus gas cooling, a Claus conversion section, a means for Claus tail gas oxidation and a sulfuric acid section, wherein a sulfuric acid outlet of the sulfuric acid section is in fluid communication with an inlet of said Claus reaction furnace, as well as a related process. The process has the associated benefit of such a process avoiding undesired production of sulfuric acid, as well as reducing the Claus process gas volume.

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.

A process plant including a Claus reaction furnace, a means of Claus gas cooling, a Claus conversion section, a means for Claus tail gas oxidation and a sulfuric acid section, wherein a sulfuric acid outlet of the sulfuric acid section is in fluid communication with an inlet of said Claus reaction furnace, as well as a related process. The process has the associated benefit of such a process avoiding undesired production of sulfuric acid, as well as reducing the Claus process gas volume.

Embodiments of a hydrogen sulfide destruction and sulfur recovery system of the present invention generally include a tower, sulfur introduction piping, oxygen introduction piping, and hydrogen sulfide introduction piping, wherein said tower contains a lower cooling component positioned in a vapor space of a tower bottom section, a lower vapor space fluidly connected to an upper vapor space, one or more upper and lower catalyst beds, a first condensation cooling component and a collection tray disposed in a first condensation section, a second condensation cooling component disposed in a second condensation section, a fluid pathway, partially defined by a collection tray weir, between the first condensation section and the second condensation section, a fluid pathway between a bottom section of the second condensation section and the tower bottom section, and a second condensation section bottom section gas outlet. Embodiments of a method of using the system are also provided.

An elemental sulfur recovery unit comprising a thermal unit configured to combust an acid gas feed comprising hydrogen sulfide, an oxygen source, and a fuel gas to create a reaction furnace outlet stream, comprising elemental sulfur, a waste heat boiler configured to capture heat from the reaction furnace outlet stream to create a waste heat boiler effluent, a condenser configured to condense the waste heat boiler effluent to produce a non-condensed gases stream and a condensed stream comprising elemental sulfur, a process gas reheater configured to generate a hot gases stream, a hydrogenation reactor configured to convert the hot gases stream to create a hydrogenation effluent comprising hydrogen sulfide, a process desuperheater configured to cool the hydrogenation effluent to generate a cooled effluent, and an absorber unit configured to absorb the hydrogen sulfide from the cooled effluent to produce a hydrogen sulfide recycle stream and a waste gas stream.

Embodiments of a hydrogen sulfide destruction and sulfur recovery system of the present invention generally include a tower, sulfur introduction piping, oxygen introduction piping, and hydrogen sulfide introduction piping, wherein said tower contains a lower cooling component positioned in a vapor space of a tower bottom section, a lower vapor space fluidly connected to an upper vapor space, one or more upper and lower catalyst beds, a first condensation cooling component and a collection tray disposed in a first condensation section, a second condensation cooling component disposed in a second condensation section, a fluid pathway, partially defined by a collection tray weir, between the first condensation section and the second condensation section, a fluid pathway between a bottom section of the second condensation section and the tower bottom section, and a second condensation section bottom section gas outlet. Embodiments of a method of using the system are also provided.

Installation and method for treating a flow comprising hydrogen sulfide 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.

The process for configuring or reconfiguring a sulfur removal plant having a plurality of Claus units that is greater than the number of downstream tail gas treating units (TGTUs) is disclosed. The process allows for the regeneration of one of the Claus units without shutting down any of the downstream TGTUs or the other Claus units. Specifically, the regeneration tail gas can be diverted to the reaction furnace of an in-service Claus unit, thereby allowing excess oxygen to be used to regenerate the Claus unit more efficiently, and without exceeding environmental SO2 emission requirements.

A method for sulfur recovery includes, in a hydrogenation reactor, converting sulfur-containing compounds in a Claus tail gas stream to hydrogen sulfide to produce a hydrogenated gas stream; feeding the hydrogenated gas stream to a quench tower to produce a quenched gas stream by condensing liquid water; feeding the quenched gas stream to a first stage adsorption vessel of a first stage adsorption unit to produce a first outlet gas stream by adsorbing water from the quenched gas stream; feeding the first outlet gas stream to a second stage adsorption vessel of a second stage adsorption unit to produce a second byproduct gas stream by adsorbing hydrogen sulfide from the first outlet gas stream; separating the second byproduct gas stream into a carbon dioxide stream and an enriched nitrogen stream; and regenerating the second stage adsorption vessel using the enriched nitrogen stream.

A method for increasing sulfur recovery from an acid gas feed comprising the steps of introducing the acid gas feed and a sulfur dioxide enriched air stream to a Claus process to produce a product gas stream, introducing the product gas stream to a thermal oxidizer to produce a flue gas stream, cooling the flue gas stream to produce a cooled take-off stream, separating the cooled take-off stream into a saturated gas stream, heating the saturated gas stream to produce a membrane gas stream, introducing the membrane gas stream to a membrane sweeping unit, the membrane sweeping unit comprises a membrane, the sulfur dioxide in the membrane gas stream permeates the membrane of the membrane sweeping unit, introducing a sweep air stream, the sweep air stream collects the sulfur dioxide to create the sulfur dioxide enriched air stream.