Simultaneous removal of H

1. A process for removing sulfur compounds from a gas, comprising:

a) providing a sorbent, comprising; expanded perlite, a substitutional solid solution characterized by the formula Ni Z Zn (1-Z) Al 2 O 4 , and a substitutional solid metal solution characterized by the formula Ni A Zn B ,

wherein A is a numerical value is in the range of from about 0.70 to about 0.98, and B is a numerical value in the range of from about 0.03 to about 0.30;

b) contacting the sorbent with a reducing agent in a reduction zone,

wherein as a result of said contacting, at least a portion of the Ni promoter metal component of the sorbent is converted to a reduced-valence state;

c) contacting the sorbent with a tail gas stream in a sorption zone,

wherein said tail gas comprises sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ) and hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S), and

wherein H 2 S present in said tail gas reacts with said Ni promoter metal to produce NiS, and SO 2 present in said tail gas reacts with NiS in the presence of a reducing agent to form NiS 2 ,

wherein said contacting simultaneously reduces the quantity of SO 2 and H 2 S present in the tail gas, thereby generating a sulfur-laden sorbent;

d) regenerating at least a portion of said sulfur-laden sorbent with a regeneration gas stream in a regeneration zone to produce a regenerated sorbent and an off-gas stream comprising SO 2 ;

e) returning at least a portion of said regenerated sorbent to said sorption zone of step c) for a subsequent contacting step;

f) routing at least a portion of said off-gas stream comprising SO 2 to an off-gas user.

2. A process according to claim 1 ,

wherein said off-gas user comprises a Claus unit.

3. A process according to claim 1 ,

wherein conditions in said sorption zone include a temperature in the range of from about 150° C. to about 1000° C.

4. A process according to claim 1 ,

wherein conditions in said sorption zone include a temperature in the range of from about 350° C. to about 550° C.

5. A process according to claim 1 ,

wherein conditions in said sorption zone include a pressure in the range of from about atmospheric pressure to about 5000 psig.

6. A process according to claim 1 ,

wherein conditions in said sorption zone include a pressure in the range of from about atmospheric pressure to about 1000 psig.

7. A process according to claim 1 ,

wherein conditions in said sorption zone include a pressure in the range of from about atmospheric pressure to about 500 psig.

8. A process according to claim 1 ,

wherein conditions in said regeneration zone includes a regeneration gas stream comprising oxygen.

9. A process according to claim 1 ,

wherein said regeneration gas stream comprises air.

10. A process according to claim 1 ,

wherein said tail gas stream comprises the compounds SO 2 and H 2 S, and

wherein each said compound is present in the range of up to about five percent by volume, based on the total volume of said tail gas stream.

11. A process according to claim 1 ,

wherein said tail gas stream has a ratio of H 2 S to SO 2 of less than 10:1.

12. A process according to claim 1 ,

wherein said tail gas stream has a ratio of H 2 S to SO 2 of about 2:1.