Patent ID: 7682582

Claim:
A process for removing sulfur compounds from a gas, comprising: a) providing a sorbent, comprising; expanded perlite, a substitutional solid solution characterized by the formula Ni Z Zn (1-Z) Al 2 O 4 , and a substitutional solid metal solution characterized by the formula Ni A Zn B , wherein A is a numerical value is in the range of from about 0.70 to about 0.98, and B is a numerical value in the range of from about 0.03 to about 0.30; 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 Ni promoter metal component of the sorbent is converted to a reduced-valence state; c) contacting the sorbent with a tail gas stream in a sorption zone, wherein said tail gas comprises sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ) and hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S), and wherein H 2 S present in said tail gas reacts with said Ni promoter metal to produce NiS, and SO 2 present in said tail gas reacts with NiS in the presence of a reducing agent to form NiS 2 , wherein said contacting simultaneously reduces the quantity of SO 2 and H 2 S present in the tail gas, thereby generating a sulfur-laden sorbent; d) regenerating 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 comprising SO 2 ; e) returning at least a portion of said regenerated sorbent to said sorption zone of step c) for a subsequent contacting step; f) routing at least a portion of said off-gas stream comprising SO 2 to an off-gas user.