Process for the desulphurization of gaseous substrate

Abstract: A process for desulphurization of a gaseous substrate containing O 2 , SO 2 , SO 3 , H 2 , SO 4 , H 2 S, CS 2 , COS and/or organic sulphur-containing components. The combustible components are oxidized catalytically into H 2 O, CO 2 , and SO 2 . The SO 2 is further oxidized catalytically into SO 3 , which in presence in the substrate of at least an equivalent amount of H 2 O in the gas, is further hydrated and condensed as sulphuric acid. The process is conducted in two reactors that are connected in series, each reactor being loaded with a layer of inert material below a layer of oxidation catalyst. The process includes reversing a direction of gas flow in the reactors after periods of about 1-40 minutes. The temperature in layers of the oxidation catalyst in the reactors is maintained in a range of 300-500 o C. The temperature of the gas stream leaving the reactors is at least 50 o C below the H 2 SO 4 dew point of the process gas after oxidation of the sulphur content in the feed gas. Condensed sulphuric acid is drained off from the bottom of each of the reactors.

Description: BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention: The present invention is directed to desulphurization of a gaseous substrate. 2. Description of the Prior Art: It is well known in the performance of gas phase reactions to heat up the reactant gas mixture to the reaction temperature by regenerative heat exchange with hot exit gas after the reaction. The combination of gas phase reaction with regenerative heat exchange is, in particular, advantageous compared to the use of recuperative heat exchange, such as a shell-and-tube heat exchanger, in processes with an adiabatic temperature increase caused by the reaction smaller than about 25% of the increase in temperature required to heat up the inlet gas to the reaction temperature. This is because regenerative heat exchangers usually are less expensive than recuperative heat exchangers when the thermal heat exchange efficiency is higher than 75%. Thermal efficiency up to 98% is typically achieved in regenerative heat exchange, which cannot be achieved practically by recuperative heat exchange. DK Patent Application No. 0375/77 and Yu. Sh. Matros in "Catalytic Processes under Unsteady State Conditions", Elsevier, Amsterdam/New York, 1989, disclose examples on use of regenerative heat exchange combined with reactions such as catalytic oxidation of SO 2 or combustible components in off gases in which the adiabatic temperature increase by the oxidation reactions are from a few degrees up to 100-200°C. In known applications in which SO 2 is oxidized into SO 3 , the process gas is free of H 2 O and H 2 SO 4 -vapour in order to avoid condensation of sulphuric acid in the regenerative heat exchanger. SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The general object of this invention is to improve the known processes for the desulphurization of gases by use of regenerative heat exchange in combination with oxidation of SO 2 into SO 3 in gases containing H 2 O. Accordingly, this invention provides a process for desulphurization of an off gas containing O 2 , and sulphur-containing components like SO 2 , SO 3 , H 2 SO 4 , H 2 O, CS 2 , COS and organic sulphur-containing components, in which the combustible components are catalytically oxidized to H 2 O, CO 2 and SO 2 over a combustion catalyst, and SO 2 is further catalytically oxidized to SO 3 over a sulphuric acid catalyst, SO 3 is further hydrated and condensed as sulphuric acid in presence of at least an equivalent amount of H 2 O in the gas, the process being conducted in at least two reactors that are connected in series, each reactor being loaded with a layer of combustion catalyst placed between a layer of inert and acid resistant material with low or no open porosity, and a layer of sulphuric acid catalyst, the process comprising the steps of : reversing a direction of gas flow in the reactors after periods of approximately 1-40 minutes; and maintaining the temperature in the layer of catalyst in a range of 300-500°C; wherein after oxidation of the sulphur-containing components the temperature of a gas stream leaving the reactors is at least 50°C below the H 2 SO 4 dew point of the gas; and condensed sulphuric acid is drained off from the bottom of each reactor. Water may be present either as H 2 O vapour in the inlet gas or formed in the oxidation of other combustibles and/or added as steam or water spray in the process. H 2 O is thereby present in amounts being at least equivalent to the amount of SO 3 formed in the process. The process treats gases which may contain SO 2 , SO 3 , H 2 SO 4 present as vapour or aerosol, organic combustible components including organic components containing sulphur, H 2 S, COS and CS 2 , which are oxidized catalytically at about 400°C. The gas to be treated in the above process is fed into one of the regenerative heat exchange beds at a temperature being at least 50°C below the sulphuric acid dew point of the gas exiting the catalyst layers, whereby all of the formed SO 3 is hydrated into H 2 SO 4 vapour, most of which is condensed in the lower section of the heat exchange beds. Hereby, the heat of hydration of SO 3 and condensation of sulphuric acid is utilized in the regenerative heat exchange for heating up the cold inlet gas to the required reaction temperature. Mass velocity of the gas in each of the two reactors is 1000-10000 Nm 3 /h per m 2 of reactor cross section. The temperature in the layers of oxidation catalyst is maintained by either heating the gas stream, cooling the gas, and purging up to 20% of the gas. The inert layer in each of the two reactors is a 0.5-5 meter high layer of acid resistant ceramic bodies with a volume to surface ratio of 1.5 to 15 mm. Preferably, the layer of inert material in each of the two reactors is a bed of monoliths of an acid resistant material with parallel, vertical channels with a diameter of 3-20 mm. A preferred sulphuric acid catalyst is vanadium oxide supported on a silica carrier material and promoted with alkali metals. Preferred alkali metals are potassium, sodium, and/or cesium. Furthermore, substantially all of the content of H 2 SO 4 in the gas can be recovered and drained off from the heat exchange beds by cooling the exit gas to a temperature below of approximately 100°C and adding particles to a concentration of about 10 10 -10 12 particles per Nm 3 per 1000 ppm of SO 3 in the gas for heterogeneous nucleation control of the condensation in order to suppress the formation of sulphuric acid aerosol in the condensation. The particles added to the gas stream are produced by thermal combustion of a silicon oil in a stream of air that is mixed into the gas. The heat exchange beds are made of acid resistant material. The heat exchange material used in the zone of the heat exchange beds, in which acid adhering to the material will be re-evaporated during the heat-up period of the cycle time, shall have low or no open porosity, or have a glazed surface, because the re-evaporization of acid decreases the thermal efficiency. In a preferred embodiment of the invention the temperature in the catalytic beds of the reactors is controlled by purging a fraction of the hot gas stream and cooling the purged gas to about 400°C, converting remaining SO 2 to SO 3 in a catalytic reactor, then further cooling the gas to 220-290°C and finally to about 100°C in a sulphuric acid condenser before the gas is combined with the main gas stream. Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of the invention which refers to the accompanying drawing. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING Fig. 1 shows a single absorption sulphuric acid lant according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Fig. 1 shows a simplified flow diagram for a specific embodiment of the invention for the desulphurization of off gas from the absorber of a single absorption sulphuric acid plant. The off gas contains N 2 , O 2 , CO 2 and typically 0.1-0.3% SO 2 , 0-10 ppm SO 3 and 2-100 ppm H 2 SO 4 as aerosol. It contains no H 2 O. The gas is treated in the two series-connected reactors 3a and 3b shown in Fig 1. Each of the reactors is connected at the bottom to inlet line 1 with lines equipped with the on-off valves 2a and 2b, and to outlet line 11 with lines equipped with the on-off valves 9a and 9b. H 2 O in the form of steam or water spray is added either to the gas in line 1 or in line 10 that connects the top of the two reactors. The amount of H 2 O added to the gas is equal to the amount that gives a molar ratio of H 2 O to SO 2 +SO 3 of at least 1.00 (i.e. no excess H 2 O), or up to 2% H 2 O after total conversion of SO 3 to H 2 SO 4 . The direction of gas flow through the reactors is reversed every 5-15 minutes by alternately having valves 2a+9b open and valves 2b+9a closed, and having valves 2a+9b closed and valves 2b+9a open. Each of the reactors is loaded with a 0.5-1 m layer 5a and 5b of a conventional sulphuric acid catalyst, in the form of 20 mm rings, on top of a 1-2 meter layer 4a and 4b of acid resistant ceramic bodies in the form of 20-30 mm balls, saddles or Raschig rings. The gas mass velocity in the reactors is about 2000-3000 Nm 3 gas per m 2 per hour. The temperature in the catalyst layers are adjusted to 350-450°C by gas heater 6. Gas cooler 7 and purge line 14 are not used in this embodiment of the invention. In operation with off gases, the temperature profiles in each of the two reactors will oscillate between two positions during each period of t minutes between changes of the position of the valves. A distance z of movement of the temperature profile during a period between shifts of the valves is approximately z = t*G*cp/(W*cw), where W is the bulk weight of the ceramic bodies, cw and cp the heat capacities of the ceramics and the gas and G the gas mass velocity in the reactor. Following reactions take place in each of the reactors: Catalytic oxidation of SO 2 , SO 2 + 1/2O 2 = SO 3 , in the catalyst zone; Gas phase hydration of SO 3 into H 2 SO 4 vapour in the ceramic zone where the temperatures are in the range 150-350°C; Condensation of H 2 SO 4 with some H 2 O in the zone of the ceramic bodies in which the temperature is below the sulphuric acid dew point of the gas phase. In order to obtain nearly complete condensation of the H 2 SO 4 vapour, the exit temperature of the gas at the bottom of the layer with ceramic bodies must be below the temperature at which the H 2 SO 4 vapour pressure in equilibrium with the condensed acid is below a given limit, e.g. 2*10 -6 atm. With 1-2% excess H 2 O in the gas phase, pH 2 SO 4 will be ≤ 2*10-6 atm at outlet temperatures below 90-100°C and 1-2% H 2 O in the gas. The concentration of the condensed acid is approximately 70% H 2 SO 4 . Some of the sulphuric acid will condense as acid aerosol in the gas phase. The aerosol can be removed in an aerosol filter 21. The amount of aerosol is suppressed by adding 10 11 -10 12 solid particles/Nm 3 per 1000 mole ppm SOx in the gas to the process gas in line 10. The particles are produced by oxidation of silicon oil in a small stream of air that is mixed into the process in line 10. In desulphurization of off gas containing H 2 S and CS 2 from production of viscose according to the invention, off gas with a content of H 2 S+CS 2 leads to an adiabatic temperature rise of up to 120°C through reaction of H 2 S and CS 2 into H 2 SO 4 -vapour. The gas is treated in the process shown in Fig. 1, with differences from the embodiment described above as follows: (1) The catalyst zone consists of a layer of commercially available, sulphur resistant combustion catalyst from Haldor Topsoe A/S, placed between the layer of acid resistant bodies and the layer of sulphuric acid catalyst. (2) A surplus of H 2 O will usually be present so that addition of H 2 O is not necessary. (3) When the heat of reacting H 2 S+CS 2 in the gas exceeds 60-80°C, the gas exit temperature is kept below 100°C by purging up to 15% of the process gas through line 14 from line 10 connecting the two reactors. The purge gas is cooled in cooler 15, the remaining SO 2 is converted to SO 3 in reactor 16, the gas is further cooled in cooler 17 and condensed in sulphuric acid condenser 18.

Claims: A process for desulphurization of an off gas containing O 2 , and sulphur-containing components like SO 2 , SO 3 , H 2 SO 4 , H 2 S, CS 2 , COS and organic sulphur-containing components, in which the combustible components are catalytically oxidized to H 2 O, CO 2 and SO 2 over a combustion catalyst, and SO 2 is further catalytically oxidized to SO 3 over a sulphuric acid catalyst, SO 3 is further hydrated and condensed as sulphuric acid in presence of at least an equivalent amount of H 2 O in the gas, the process being conducted in at least two reactors that are connected in series, each reactor being loaded with a layer of combustion catalyst placed between a layer of inert and acid resistant material with low or no open porosity, and a layer of sulphuric acid catalyst, the process comprising the steps of : reversing a direction of gas flow in the reactors after periods of approximately 1-40 minutes; and maintaining the temperature in the layers of catalyst in a range of 300-500°C; wherein after oxidation of the sulphur-containing components the temperature of a gas stream leaving the reactors is at least 50°C below the H 2 SO 4 dew point of the gas; and condensed sulphuric acid is drained off from the bottom of each reactor. The process of claim 1, wherein the step of maintaining the temperature in the layers of catalyst comprises at least one of the further steps of heating the gas stream, cooling the gas, and purging up to 20% of the gas. A process according to claim 1 or 2, wherein a mass velocity of the gas in each of the two reactors is 1000-10000 Nm 3 / h per m 2 of reactor cross section. A process according to any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the inert layer in each of the reactors is a 0.5-5 meter high layer of acid resistant ceramic bodies with a volume to surface ratio of 1.5 to 15 mm. A process according to any of claims 1 to 3, wherein the layer of inert material in each of the reactors is a bed of monoliths of an acid resistant material with parallel, vertical channels with a diameter of 3-20 mm. A process according to any of claims 1 to 5, wherein the sulphuric acid catalyst is vanadium oxide supported on a silica carrier material and promoted with alkali metals. A process according to claim 6, wherein the alkali metal is selected from the group consisting of potassium, sodium, and cesium. A process according to claim 1, wherein formation of sulphuric acid aerosol in the condensation of H 2 SO 4 vapour by cooling of the gas in the inert beds is suppressed by adding of a number of particles in the gas stream to a concentration of about 10 10 - 10 12 particles per Nm 3 per 1000 ppm of SO 3 in the gas. A process according to claim 8, wherein the particles added to the gas stream are produced by thermal combustion of a silicon oil in a stream of air that is mixed into the gas. A process according to claim 2, wherein the temperature in the layers of catalyst is controlled by purging a fraction of the hot gas stream and cooling the purged gas to about 400°C, converting remaining SO 2 to SO 3 in a catalytic reactor, then further cooling the gas to 220-290°C and finally to about 100°C in a sulphuric acid condenser before the gas is combined with the main gas stream.

Inventors: SCHOUBYE PETER, SCHOUBYE, PETER
Applicants: TOPSOE HALDOR AS, HALDOR TOPSOE A/S
Application year: 1997
Main classification: B01D53
IPC codes: B01D53, C01B17, B01J23