Modeling and optimization of an industrial Claus process: Thermal and catalytic section

Abstract

Abstract The main goal of this research is modeling and optimization of an industrial modified Claus process to achieve maximum sulfur recovery. The modified Claus process consists thermal conversion in furnace and catalytic conversion in two series fixed bed reactors. The furnace and catalytic reactors are modeled based on the mass and energy conservation laws at steady state condition. To prove the accuracy of the developed mathematical model, simulation results of conventional process are compared with the available plant data. Then, the optimal condition of Claus process is calculated considering sulfur recovery as the objective function using Genetic algorithm as a useful method in global optimization. The attainable decision variables are inlet temperature of furnace and fixed bed reactors, feed distribution along the furnace and flow rate of air in the furnace. The simulation results show that sulfur recovery is improved about 4.63% in the optimized process compared to the conventional process. In addition, performance of auto-thermal reactor as a substitute for conventional adiabatic reactors is investigated to enhance sulfur recovery and reducing sulfur contaminants emission in the Claus process.