ENGINEERING EVALUATION OF HOT-GAS DESULFURIZATION WITH SULFUR RECOVERY

Abstract

Engineering evaluations and economic comparisons of two hot-gas desulfurization (HGD) processes with elemental sulfur recovery, being developed by Research Triangle Institute, are presented. In the first process, known as the Direct Sulfur Recovery Process (DSRP), the SO{sub 2} tail gas from air regeneration of zinc-based HGD sorbent is catalytically reduced to elemental sulfur with high selectivity using a small slipstream of coal gas. DSRP is a highly efficient first-generation process, promising sulfur recoveries as high as 99% in a single reaction stage. In the second process, known as the Advanced Hot Gas Process (AHGP), the zinc-based HGD sorbent is modified with iron so that the iron portion of the sorbent can be regenerated using SO{sub 2} . This is followed by air regeneration to fully regenerate the sorbent and provide the required SO{sub 2} for iron regeneration. This second-generation process uses less coal gas than DSRP. Commercial embodiments of both processes were developed. Process simulations with mass and energy balances were conducted using ASPEN Plus. Results show that AHGP is a more complex process to operate and may require more labor cost than the DSRP. Also capital costs for the AHGP are higher than those for the DSRP. However, annual operating costs for the AHGP appear to be considerably less than those for the DSRP with a potential break-even point between the two processes after just 2 years of operation for an integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) power plant using 3 to 5 wt% sulfur coal. Thus, despite its complexity, the potential savings with the AHGP encourage further development and scaleup of this advanced process.