DIRECT SULFUR RECOVERY

THE OBJECTIVE OF THE PROPOSED PROJECT IS TO DEVELOP AND DEMONSTRATE A LOW- COST ALTERNATIVE TO A MODIFIED CLAUS PLAN FOR CONVERSION OF SO2 TO ELEMENTAL SULFUR, AND, MORE SPECIFICALLY, TO OPTIMIZE AN EXISTING ACID RAIN SORBENT REGENERATION PROCESS DEVELOPED BY SANITECH TO YIELD DIRECTLY A PURE ELEMENTAL SULFUR PRODUCT. IN SANITECH'S PRESENT REGENERATION PROCESS, APPROXIMATELY ONE- QUARTER OF THE LIBERATED SO2 FROM SATURATED SORBENTS IS DIRECTLY CONVERTED TO ELEMENTAL SULFUR. IN THE PROPOSED PROJECT, SANITECH WILL SEEK TO APPLY RECENT DISCOVERIES MADE BY OTHERS TO DEVELOP A PROCESS THAT WILL APPROACH 2100-PERCENT CONVERSION. THE PROPOSED RESEARCH WILL BE CONDUCTED IN THREE PHASES, COVERING THREE POSSIBLE STRATEGIES FOR INCREASED DIRECT-SULFUR CONVERSION. THE THREE STRATEGIES ARE REGENERATION-GAS RECYCLE, HIGH-PRESSURE REGENERATION, AND CATALYTIC REDUCTION OF THE SO2 GAS. EACH STRATEGY INVOLVES A DISTRINCTLY DIFFERENT APPROACH, AND EACH STRATEGY ITSELF REPRESENTS A GOOD PROBABILITY OF SUCCESS. SUCCESS ON THIS PROJECT COULD HAVE A MAJOR IMPACT ON THE COSTS OF REGENERABLE FLUE-GAS DESULFURIZATION PROCESSES IN GENERAL, BUT ESPECIALLY FOR NEW TECHNOLOGY CURRENTLY UNDER DEVELOPMENT AT SANITECH.