Patent ID: 7687047

Claim:
A sulfur recovery process, comprising; a) providing a sorbent comprising a substitutional solid solution characterized by the formula Mn Z Zn (1-Z) Al 2 O 4 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 promoter metal component of the sorbent is converted to a reduced-valence state, c) contacting a tail gas stream comprising SO 2 and H 2 S with the sorbent in a sorption zone wherein said contacting simultaneously reduces the quantity of SO 2 and H 2 S present in the tail gas, thereby producing a product gas stream, solid sulfur, and a sulfur laden sorbent, and, wherein as a result of said contacting, the Mn promoter metal of the sorbent reacts simultaneously with both H 2 S and SO 2 to produce solid elemental sulfur and water according to the reaction: Mn+H 2 S+SO 2 →2/xS x +MnO+H 2 O, d) contacting 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.