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Applications
The SUPERCLAUS® process has been developed to recover elemental sulfur from H2S containing gases originating from gas treating plants such as alkanolamine units or physical solvent plants. SUPERCLAUS® plants are also able to process H2S/NH3 containing gases originating from Sour Water Strippers with the objective to yield up to 99.4% overall sulfur recovery without any further tail gas clean-up.

Description
The SUPERCLAUS® process consists of a thermal stage followed by three or four catalytic reaction stages with sulfur removed between stages by condensers. The first two or three reactors are filled with standard Claus catalyst while the last reactor is filled with the selective oxidation catalyst. In the thermal stage, the acid gas is burned with a substoichiometric amount of controlled combustion air such that the tail gas leaving the last Claus reactor contains typically 0.8 to 1.0 vol.% of H2S. The catalyst in the SUPERCLAUS® reactor oxidizes the H2S to sulfur at an efficiency of more than 85%.

The acid gas feed from the Amine Regenerator and from the Sour Water Stripper are introduced to the main burner. The air to the main burner is supplied by a combustion air blower. The air to the burner and combustion chamber is exactly sufficient for the complete oxidation of all hydrocarbons and ammonia present in the feed gases and to burn as much H2S as required to obtain the correct H2S/SO2 ratio. To remove the heat generated in the burner and combustion chamber, the gas passes through a tube bundle located in a waste heat boiler. The gas is cooled, thereby generating steam. Further cooling is done in a condenser generating steam. The process gas stream from the condenser is heated in the first reheater to obtain the optimum temperature for the catalytic conversion. In the reactor, the H2S and SO2 react over the catalyst, forming sulfur and H2O until equilibrium is reached. The effluent gas from the first reactor goes to the first sulfur condenser. The process gas is cooled here and the released heat is used to generate steam. The process gas stream from the condenser is heated in the second reheater to obtain the optimum temperature for the catalytic conversion. In the reactor, the H2S and SO2 react over the catalyst, forming sulfur and H2O until equilibrium is reached. The effluent gas from the second reactor goes to the second sulfur condenser. The process gas is cooled here and the released heat is used to generate steam. The tail gas from the final condenser and the vent gas from the sulfur pit gas contain residual H2S and other sulfur compounds, which cannot be released directly to the atmosphere. These gases are therefore thermally incinerated to convert residual H2S an The gas is heated in the reheater and process gas and oxidation air are well mixed before entering the SUPERCLAUS® reactor. H2S is selectively oxidized into sulfur in the SUPERCLAUS® reactor. The reactor contains a special selective oxidation catalyst. The air is supplied in excess in order to maintain oxidizing conditions in the reactor to prevent sulfiding of the catalyst. T H2S is selectively oxidized into sulfur in the SUPERCLAUS® reactor. The reactor contains a special selective oxidation catalyst. The air is supplied in excess in order to maintain oxidizing conditions in the reactor to prevent sulfiding of the catalyst. T The gas leaving the SUPERCLAUS® reactor passes to the SUPERCLAUS® condenser. In order to condensate as much sulfur vapor as possible, the SUPERCLAUS® condenser operates at a low temperature.

Operating Conditions
Two main principles are applied in operating the SUPERCLAUS® process:
  • Operating the Claus plant with excess H2S to suppress the SO2 content in the Claus tail gas.
  • Selective oxidation of the remaining H2S in the Claus tail gas by means of special catalyst which efficiently converts the remaining H2S in the presence of water vapor and excess oxygen to elemental sulfur only.
    • Other operating features that apply to Jacobs Comprimo's Claus process are applicable for the SUPERCLAUS® process as well. These include NH3 destruction up to 30 vol.%, the capability to process small amounts of heavy hydrocarbons and aromatics (BTX) up to 2 vol.%, turndown ratios of 100-15% and production of 99.9% pure bright yellow sulfur.
Features
  • Application in both new and existing plants.
    • The proprietary SUPERCLAUS® catalyst possesses some unique properties:
        - oxidation of H2S to sulfur is complete
        - no sensitivity to water vapor
        - further oxidation of SO2 is negligible even in the presence of excess oxygen
        - components such as H2, CO and other combustibles are not affected
        - the catalyst does not promote the Claus equilibrium reaction
  • Long catalyst lifetime.
  • Sulfur recovery up to 99.4%.
  • Reduction of SO2 emissions by up to 90%.
  • Simple continuous operation.
  • Low additional investment costs.
  • NH3 destruction.
  • Capability to combust heavy hydrocarbon and aromatics.
  • High turndown.
  • High reliability - less than 1% unscheduled shutdown time.


    • References
    Since the first commercial demonstration of the SUPERCLAUS® process in 1988, more than 130 plants with a capacity up to over 1200 t/d are in operation or under construction.

    Licensor
    Jacobs Nederland B.V., Leiden, The Netherlands.
     

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