Characterization of sulphur particles: prills vs. granules

Abstract

The oil and gas industry produces sulfur as a by-product when the feed constitutes of sulfur compounds. In the sulfur finishing process, two processes are used to convert molten sulfur to solid particles namely granulation and prilling. The prilling process for sulfur involves molten sulfur being pumped into perforated trays and then poured into an agitated water bath dropwise. This is the wet-prill process. This paper proposes to examine three samples of sulfur, one of which in the prilled form and the other two in granule form produced via two different granulation processes. The characterization tests included particle size distribution, strength measurement, structure analysis, and thermal calorimetry measurements. It was found that there are major differences between sulfur prills and granules when looking at physical and mechanical properties such as size, strength, and thermal properties. The three samples have been tested and analyzed to conclude the best process. The average strength of the prills is 2.4 N in comparison to the average strength of the normal and mixed granule being 3.26 N and 4.7 N, respectively. It is concluded that the granules were stronger than the prills but the prills were more uniform than both samples of granules.