Patent ID: 7550132

Claim:
A process for the production of sulfur starting from hydrogen sulphide contained in natural gas, which comprises: a) oxidizing part of the hydrogen sulphide to sulfur dioxide; b) preparing a solution by dissolving in water the sulfur dioxide obtained in (a); c) carrying out the following reaction (I): 2H 2 S+SO 2 →→3S+2H 2 O ( I ) by reacting hydrogen sulphide remaining in the natural gas with the solution prepared in (b) to provide a sulfur suspension; and d) isolating sulfur from the sulfur suspension or, alternatively, disposing of said sulfur suspension in a site reserved for such purpose, wherein the hydrogen sulphide is oxidized to SO 2 , by directly burning a mixture of methane and hydrogen sulphide as it exits from an extraction well, without pretreatment with alkanolamine, in the presence of a substoichometric quantity of oxygen.