Processes for removing polysulfanes and elemental sulfur from hydrogen sulfide

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10773958-B2
Application number	US-201414221327-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Mar 21, 2014
Priority date	Mar 21, 2014
Publication date	Sep 15, 2020
Grant date	Sep 15, 2020

Abstract

Disclosed are processes for purifying feed streams containing hydrogen sulfide and sulfur-containing impurities by removing sulfur-containing impurities, such as elemental sulfur and polysulfanes, using solid catalytic sorbents. Also disclosed are processes for producing hydrogen sulfide.

First claim

We claim:

1. A process to purify a feed stream comprising sulfur-containing impurities and at least 80 wt. % H 2 S, the process comprising:
contacting the feed stream with a solid catalytic sorbent for a time period of at least 100 hours at a temperature in a range from 15° C. to 55° C., a pressure in a range from 34 kPa (5 psia) to 1.3 MPa (200 psia), and a weight hourly space velocity (WHSV) in a range from 0.05 to 2, to remove at least a portion of the sulfur-containing impurities from the feed stream to form a purified H 2 S stream;
wherein the solid catalytic sorbent comprises a potassium hydroxide impregnated activated carbon containing from about 7 to about 18 wt. % potassium; and
wherein a minimum of 60 wt. % of the sulfur-containing impurities are removed from the feed stream to form the purified H 2 S stream.

2. The process of claim 1 , wherein the feed stream comprises from 10 to 500 ppm by weight of sulfur-containing impurities and at least 90 wt. % H 2 S.

3. The process of claim 1 , wherein the feed stream comprises at least 98 wt. % H 2 S.

4. The process of claim 1 , wherein the solid catalytic sorbent is in the form of pellets having an average diameter of about 4 mm and an average length of about 6 mm.

5. The process of claim 1 , wherein the feed stream contacts a fixed bed of the solid catalytic sorbent, and the fixed bed of the solid catalytic sorbent comprises a combination of solid catalytic sorbents in a mixed bed and/or sequential beds.

6. The process of claim 1 , wherein:
the feed stream is contacted with the solid catalytic sorbent for a time period of at least 400 hours; and
for the time period of at least 400 hours, a minimum of 60 wt. % of the sulfur-containing impurities are removed from the feed stream to form the purified H 2 S stream.

7. A process to purify a feed stream comprising sulfur-containing impurities and at least 80 wt. % H 2 S, the process comprising:
(i) contacting the feed stream with a drying agent to remove at least a portion of moisture (H 2 O) from the feed stream to form a moisture reduced feed stream; and
(ii) contacting the moisture reduced feed stream with a solid catalytic sorbent for a time period of at least 100 hours at a temperature in a range from 15° C. to 55° C., a pressure in a range from 34 kPa (5 psia) to 1.3 MPa (200 psia), and a weight hourly space velocity (WHSV) in a range from 0.05 to 2, to remove at least a portion of the sulfur-containing impurities from the moisture reduced feed stream to form a purified H 2 S stream;
wherein the solid catalytic sorbent comprises a potassium hydroxide impregnated activated carbon containing from about 7 to about 18 wt. % potassium; and
wherein a minimum of 60 wt. % of the sulfur-containing impurities are removed from the moisture reduced feed stream to form the purified H 2 S stream.

8. The process of claim 7 , wherein the drying agent comprises calcium chloride, calcium sulfate, magnesium sulfate, alumina, silica, a molecular sieve, or any combination thereof.

9. The process of claim 7 , wherein:
the feed stream comprises from 10 to 500 ppm by weight of sulfur-containing impurities and at least 90 wt. % H 2 S; and
the moisture reduced feed stream comprises less than 50 ppm by weight of H 2 O.

10. The process of claim 9 , wherein:
the moisture reduced feed stream is contacted with the solid catalytic sorbent for a time period of at least 300 hours; and
for the time period of at least 300 hours, a minimum of 50 wt. % of the sulfur-containing impurities are removed from the moisture reduced feed stream to form the purified H 2 S stream.

11. The process of claim 7 , wherein:
the moisture reduced feed stream is contacted with the solid catalytic sorbent for a time period of at least 600 hours; and
for the time period of at least 600 hours, a minimum of 50 wt. % of the sulfur-containing impurities are removed from the moisture reduced feed stream to form the purified H 2 S stream.

12. A hydrogen sulfide production process comprising:
(a) contacting hydrogen and sulfur under conditions sufficient to produce a feed stream comprising from 10 to 500 ppm by weight of sulfur-containing impurities and at least 90 wt. % H 2 S;
(b) contacting the feed stream with a solid catalytic sorbent for a time period of at least 100 hours at a temperature in a range from 15° C. to 55° C., a pressure in a range from 34 kPa (5 psia) to 1.3 MPa (200 psia), and a weight hourly space velocity (WHSV) in a range from 0.05 to 2, to remove at least a portion of the sulfur-containing impurities from the feed stream to form a purified H 2 S stream;
wherein the solid catalytic sorbent comprises a potassium hydroxide impregnated activated carbon containing from about 7 to about 18 wt. % potassium; and
wherein a minimum of 60 wt. % of the sulfur-containing impurities are removed from the feed stream to form the purified H 2 S stream.

13. The process of claim 12 , wherein:
the feed stream is contacted with the solid catalytic sorbent for a time period of at least 250 hours; and
for the time period of at least 250 hours, a minimum of 60 wt. % of the sulfur-containing impurities are removed from the feed stream to form the purified H 2 S stream.

14. The process of claim 13 , wherein the process further comprises a step of contacting the feed stream with a drying agent to remove at least a portion of moisture (H 2 O) from the feed stream prior to contacting the feed stream with the solid catalytic sorbent.

15. A process to purify a feed stream comprising sulfur-containing impurities and at least 80 wt. % H 2 S, the process comprising:
contacting the feed stream with a solid catalytic sorbent to remove at least a portion of the sulfur-containing impurities from the feed stream to form a purified H 2 S stream;
wherein the solid catalytic sorbent comprises a potassium hydroxide impregnated activated carbon containing from about 7 to about 18 wt. % potassium; and
wherein a minimum of 60 wt. % of the sulfur-containing impurities are removed from the feed stream to form the purified H 2 S stream.

16. The process of claim 15 , wherein the process further comprises a step of contacting the feed stream with a drying agent to remove at least a portion of moisture (H 2 O) from the feed stream prior to contacting the feed stream with the solid catalytic sorbent.

17. The process of claim 16 , wherein:
the feed stream comprises from 10 to 500 ppm by weight of sulfur-containing impurities and at least 90 wt. % H 2 S; and
after contacting the feed stream with the drying agent, the feed stream comprises less than 50 ppm by weight of H 2 O.

18. The process of claim 17 , wherein the drying agent comprises calcium chloride, calcium sulfate, magnesium sulfate, alumina, silica, a molecular sieve, or any combination thereof.

19. The process of claim 15 , wherein the feed stream comprises at least 98 wt. % H 2 S.

Assignees

• Chevron Phillips Chemical Co Lp

Inventors

• Hasenberg Daniel M
• Refvik Mitchell D
• Matson Michael S
• Bhandarkar Maruti
• Knudsen Ronald D

Classifications

• B01D53/8603

  Removing sulfur compounds · CPC title

• B01D53/523

  Mixtures of hydrogen sulfide and sulfur oxides · CPC title

• B01D53/485

  containing only one sulfur compound other than sulfur oxides or hydrogen sulfide · CPC title

• C01B17/168 Primary

  Purification · CPC title

• B01D53/8606

  only one sulfur compound other than sulfur oxides or hydrogen sulfide · CPC title