Abstract

Environmental regulations have become more stringent on sulfur dioxide emissions to atmosphere. One of the main strategies of reducing sulfur emissions is to increase the performance of the sulfur recovery units (SRU). The modified Claus process is one of the major processes which convert toxic hydrogen sulfide to elemental sulfur from acid gas during sour natural gas processing and refinery upgrading [1]. Conversion of H2S to SO2 in the modified Claus process is conducted in the reaction furnace (RF) which is a refractory lined cylindrical vessel. Acid gas stream at a pressure typically ranging from 130 to 180 kPa is fed to the reaction furnace burner along with an appropriate quantity of air to oxidize feed contaminates and results in a 2:1 ratio of H2S:SO2 in the reactor effluent. The combustion of acid gases in the RF is performed at temperature ranges of 975-1300 ℃ and gas residence times 0.5- 2.0s [2].