Patent ID: 7261873

Claim:
A process for obtaining energy values contained in sulphur-containing carbonaceous fuel, said process comprising (a) burning a first sulphur-containing carbonaceous fuel in an oxygen-containing gas in a combustion boiler to produce (i) exothermic heat; and (ii) a first combustion oxygen-lean gaseous stream comprising sulphur dioxide; (b) collecting said exothermic heat; (c) feeding said first combustion gaseous stream to a reactor containing a second sulphur-containing carbonaceous fuel having a first bound-sulphur content; (d) reacting said second fuel with said first combustion gas in an oxygen-containing atmosphere at an effective temperature to (i) produce elemental sulphur from said SO 2 ; (ii) release reactor exothermic heat; and (iii) produce a second combustion gaseous stream containing said elemental sulphur and a treated fuel having a second bound-sulphur content; (e) separating said elemental sulphur from said treated fuel; (f) collecting said elemental sulphur; (g) collecting said treated fuel; and (h) producing a separated combustion stream.