METHOD OF RECOVERING SULPHUR FROM A GAS STREAM CONTAINING HYDROGEN SULPHIDE

摘要

Oxygen or oxygen-enriched air is employed to support combustion in furnaces (16) and (26) of part of the hydrogen sulphide content of a first feed gas stream. Sulphur vapour is extracted in condenser (32) from the resulting gas mixture so as to form a sulphur vapour depleted gas stream comprising hydrog en sulphide, sulphur dioxide, hydrogen and water vapour. The sulphur vapour depleted gas stream is passed into a catalytic reduction reactor (40) in whi ch all the residual sulphur dioxide is reduced to hydrogen sulphide. The resulting reduced gas mixture has water vapour extracted therefrom in a quen ch tower (52). The resulting water vapour depleted gas stream flows to a Claus plant for further treatment typically together with a second geed gas steam comprising hydrogen sulphide. Employing both furnaces (16) and (26) makes it possible to obtain highly effective conversions to sulphur of the hydrogen sulphide on the feed gas without having the recycle any of the water vapour depleted gas.