Method for the recovery of elemental sulfur from a gas mixture containing H2S

摘要

This invention is a method for the recovery of elemental sulfur from a gas mixture containing H2S. The gas mixture is first subjected to desulfurization in a Claus installation which has a thermal part and a catalytic part resulting in the recovery of elemental sulfur. Sulfur compounds still contained in the Claus tail gas are then transformed into H2S by means of hydrogenation and, if necessary, by means of hydrolysis and the hydrogenated Claus tail gas is subjected to catalytic direct oxidation of the H2S to elemental sulfur. The Claus installation comprises exactly one catalytic stage and the catalytic direct oxidation also takes place in exactly one reactor. Sulfur recovery rates of 99.3% to 99.6% are achieved by the method of the invention.