Sulfur recovery plant
View Patent ↗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.
1. A sulfur recovery plant comprising:
a) a burner;
b) a reaction furnace;
c) a waste heat boiler;
d) a first reactor in fluid flow communication with said waste heat boiler and a series of subsequent reactors in fluid flow communication with said first reactor, wherein said series of subsequent reactors includes a final reactor, and wherein there is not a condenser between said waste heat boiler and said first reactor, and wherein a condenser precedes each reactor in said series of subsequent reactors, and there are no reheaters in between each condenser and reactor in each said subsequent series of reactors; and
e) a final condenser between the final reactor and a tail gas treatment zone.
2. A sulfur recovery plant in accordance with claim 1 , wherein said waste heat boiler has a surface area designed in a manner so as to keep a stream entering said first reactor at a temperature in the range of from about the dew point of sulfur to about 600° F.
3. A sulfur recovery plant in accordance with claim 1 , wherein said waste heat boiler has a steam pressure so as to keep a stream entering said first reactor at a temperature in the range of from about the dew point of sulfur to about 600° F.
4. A sulfur recovery plant in accordance with claim 1 , wherein each condenser preceding a reactor in said series of subsequent reactors has a steam pressure so as to keep a stream entering each reactor in said series of subsequent reactors at a temperature in the range of from about 390° F. to about 450° F.
5. A sulfur recovery plant in accordance with claim 4 , wherein said steam pressure in each condenser preceding a reactor in said series of subsequent reactors is in the range of from about 22 psig to about 65 psig.
6. A sulfur recovery plant in accordance with claim 1 wherein each condenser preceding a reactor in said series of subsequent reactors has a surface area designed so as to keep a stream entering each reactor in said series of subsequent reactors at a temperature in the range of from about 390° F. to about 450° F.
7. A sulfur recovery plant consisting essentially of:
a) a burner;
b) a reaction furnace;
c) a waste heat boiler;
d) a series of reactors in fluid flow communication with said waste heat boiler wherein there is a condenser in between each reactor and after the final reactor in said series of reactors and
e) a tail gas treatment zone.
8. A process for recovering elemental sulfur from a gas stream comprising hydrogen sulfide, said process comprising;
a) passing said gas stream through a burner, a reaction furnace and a waste heat boiler to yield a process gas stream comprising elemental sulfur, water, SO 2 , and any unreacted hydrogen sulfide;
b) passing said process gas stream through a first reactor in fluid flow communication in said waste heat boiler wherein said process gas stream does not first pass through a condenser after leaving said waste heat boiler and before arriving at said first reactor;
c) passing said process gas stream through a series of subsequent reactors in fluid flow communication with said first reactor, wherein said process gas stream passes through a condenser before passing through each reactor in said series of subsequent reactors, and wherein said process stream does not pass through a reheater in between each condenser and reactor in each of said series of subsequent reactors; and
d) passing said process gas stream to a final condenser; and
e) passing said process gas stream to a tail gas treatment zone.
9. A process in accordance with claim 8 , wherein said waste heat boiler has a surface area designed in a manner so as to keep a stream entering said first reactor at a temperature in the range of from about the dew point of sulfur to about 600° F.
10. A process in accordance with claim 8 , wherein said waste heat boiler has a steam pressure so as to keep said gas stream entering said first reactor at a temperature in the range of from about the dew point of sulfur to about 600° F.
11. A process in accordance with claim 8 , wherein each condenser preceding a reactor in said series of subsequent reactors has a steam pressure so as to keep a stream entering each reactor in said series of subsequent reactors at a temperature in the range of from about 390° F. to about 450° F.
12. A process in accordance with claim 11 , wherein said steam pressure in each condenser preceding a reactor in said series of subsequent reactors is in the range of from about 22 psig to about 65 psig.
13. A process in accordance with claim 8 , wherein each condenser preceding a reactor in said series of subsequent reactors has a surface area designed so as to keep a stream entering each reactor in said series of subsequent reactors at a temperature in the range of from about 390° F. to about 450° F.
14. A process for recovering elemental sulfur from a gas stream comprising hydrogen sulfide, said process consisting essentially of:
a) passing a gas stream comprising hydrogen sulfide and an O 2 -containing gas through a burner, a reaction furnace and a waste heat boiler to yield a process gas stream comprising elemental sulfur, water, SO 2 , and any unreacted hydrogen sulfide;
b) passing said process gas stream through a series of reactors in fluid flow communication with said waste heat boiler wherein said process gas stream passes through a condenser in between each reactor;
c) passing said process gas stream through a final condenser after the last reactor in said series; and
c) passing said process gas stream through a tail gas treatment zone.