Conocophillips Company

Nathan A Hatcher

Alfred E Keller

Sriram Ramani

Larry D Swinney

Terry D Pruitt

Joe D Allison

Steven E Lusk

Gilbert E Torres

Paul D Stewart

Michael D Smith

Kerri J Kirkendall

Rebecca S Shaver

A process is disclosed for removing hydrogen sulfide from liquid sulfur including: passing a liquid sulfur feed comprising liquid sulfur and hydrogen sulfide to a vaporizer; vaporizing at least a portion of the liquid sulfur feed in the vaporizer to thereby form a first vapor stream comprising gaseous sulfur and gaseous hydrogen sulfide; partially condensing the first vapor stream in a condenser to form a liquid product stream comprising liquid sulfur and a second vapor stream comprising hydrogen sulfide; wherein the liquid product stream has a lower concentration of hydrogen sulfide than the liquid sulfur feed.

Sulfur degassing process

Novel sulfur recovery plants, and processes utilizing these plants are disclosed. These apparatuses eliminate the use of a condenser between the waste heat boiler and first Claus catalytic reactors, and also eliminate the use of reheaters in between Claus catalytic reactors.

Sulfur recovery plant

A compact sulfur recovery system is disclosed which includes an upflow orientation for the gases through a primary structure including a catalytic partial oxidation reaction zone, a first temperature-control zone, a first Claus catalytic reaction zone, a second temperature-control zone, a first liquid sulfur outlet, and a first effluent gas outlet. The upward flow of the gases puts the hottest gases in contact with the tubes and tube sheet in the waste heat boiler where there is greater confidence in having liquid water in most continuous therewith.

Compact sulfur recovery plant and process

Claus sulfur recovery plants that include one or more single-stage or multi-stage compact tubular Claus catalytic reactor-heat exchanger units are disclosed. In some instances, these new or improved Claus plants additionally include one or more compact heat exchanger containing cooling tubes that are filled with a heat transfer enhancement medium. The new compact tubular Claus catalytic reactor-heat exchanger units and HTEM-containing heat exchangers are also disclosed. A process for recovering sulfur from a hydrogen sulfide-containing gas stream, employing the new tubular Claus catalytic reactor-heat exchanger unit, and in some instances a HTEM-containing heat exchanger, are also disclosed.

Increased capacity sulfur recovery plant and process for recovering elemental sulfur

A compact sulfur recovery system is disclosed which comprises a primary structure including a catalytic partial oxidation reaction zone, a first temperature-control zone, a first Claus catalytic reaction zone, a second temperature-control zone, a first liquid sulfur outlet, and a first effluent gas outlet. In some embodiments, a secondary structure follows the primary structure and comprises a second Claus catalytic reaction zone, a third temperature-control zone, a second liquid sulfur outlet, and a second effluent gas outlet. One or more components of the system employ heat transfer enhancement material in the temperature-control zones, and one or more components deter accumulation of liquid sulfur in the Claus catalytic reaction zones. A process for recovering elemental sulfur from hydrogen sulfide-containing gas streams comprises regulating the temperature of certain components to favor the partial oxidation reaction, and the Claus reaction, as appropriate, and deters pooling of liquid sulfur on the Claus catalyst(s).

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Buda, TX, United States of America

Nathan A Hatcher