Patent ID: 7108842

Claim:
A multistage catalytic partial oxidation process for recovering elemental sulfur from a H 2 S-containing gas stream, the process comprising: contacting said H 2 S-containing gas stream with a catalyst that is active for catalyzing the partial oxidation of H 2 S in the presence of oxygen to form S 0 and H 2 O, said catalyst comprising multiple catalytic regions; providing the total stoichiometric amount of oxygen required for the catalytic partial oxidation of the H 2 S in said H 2 S-containing gas stream to S 0 and H 2 O in at least two increments, respectively, to at least two of said catalyst regions, such that a product gas mixture is formed comprising S 0 and H 2 O; and condensing elemental sulfur from said product gas mixture.