Vanadium oxide catalysts on structured microfiber supports for the selective oxidation of hydrogen sulfide

Abstract

Vanadium(V) oxide catalysts for the selective oxidation of hydrogen sulfide to sulfur on a nonporous glass-fiber support with a surface layer of a porous secondary support (SiO2) are studied. The catalysts are obtained by means of pulsed surface thermosynthesis. Such catalysts are shown to have high activity and acceptable selectivity in the industrially important region of temperatures below 200°C. A glass-fiber catalyst containing vanadium oxide (10.3 wt % of vanadium) in particular ensures the complete conversion of H2S at a temperature of 175°C and a reaction mixture hourly space velocity (RMHSV) of 1 cm3/(gcat s) with a sulfur yield of 67%; this is at least 1.35 times higher than for the traditional iron oxide catalyst. Using a structured glass-fiber woven support effectively minimizes diffusion resistance and greatly simplifies the scaleup of processes based on such catalysts. Such catalysts can be used for the cleansing of tail gases from Claus units and in other processes based on the selective oxidation of H2S.