SULFUR RECOVERY FROM HYDROGEN SULFIDE-PRONE NATURAL GAS

NATURAL GAS CONTAMINATED WITH HYDROGEN SULFIDE (H2S) IS AN ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARD, CORROSIVE TO NATURAL GAS DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS; IT PROHIBITS DIRECT USE OF 19 TRILLION CUBIC FEET OF KNOWN NATURAL GAS RESERVES AND 80 TRILLION CUBIC FEET OF UNDISCOVERED RESERVES. CURRENT TECHNOLOGIES FOR H2S REMOVAL ARE TOO COMPLEX AND COSTLY. IN A SEPARATE GRANT APPLICATION IT WAS SUGGESTED THAT AN ELECTRON BEAM PROCESS WILL REMOVE H2S FROM NATURAL GAS AT ONE-THIRD THE COST OF COMPETING TECHNOLOGIES. THE ELECTRON BEAM PROCESS FOR REMOVAL OF H2S, HOWEVER, DECOMPOSES IT INTO HYDROGEN AND ELEMENTAL SULFUR PARTICULATES IN THE SIZE RANGE 0.5 TO U.5 MUM. VERY FEW SEPARATION TECHNOLOGIES EFFICIENTLY REMOVE SUBMICRON PARTICLES FROM GAS PHASE FLOWS. IN THIS PROJECT AN INNOVATIVE CONCEPT, KNOWN AS A CONFINED VORTEX SCRUBBER, WHICH HAS DEMONSTRATED 98% SEPARATION OF 0.3 MUM PARTICLES IN AIR AT STANDARD CONDITIONS WILL BE INVESTIGATED. THE CONFINED VORTEX SCRUBBER CONSISTS OF A CYLINDRICAL VORTEX CHAMBER WITH MULTIPLE TANGENTIAL PROCESS GAS INLET JETS. THE SCRUBBING LIQUID IS CONFINED TO THE OUTER VORTEX CHAMBER WALL BECAUSE OF HIGH RADIAL ACCELERATIONS CAUSING SMALL BUBBLES WHOSE MICRO-CYCLONIC ACTION IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE VERY EFFECTIVE SEPARATION OF SUBMICRON PARTICLES. IN PHASE I IT WILL BE DEMONSTRATED, VIA BENCH-TOP SCALE TEST, WHETHER THE CONFINED VORTEX SCRUBBER PRODUCES HIGH SUBMICRON SEPARATION EFFICIENCIES UNDER THE MUCH MORE DENSE CONDITIONS TYPICAL OF NATURAL GAS GATHERING SYSTEMS. THESE DATA PLUS SCALING RELATIONS DEVELOPED IN PHASE I WILL BE USED TO DESIGN A SCALED-UP CONFINED VORTEX SCRUBBER FOR PHASE II FEASIBILITY TESTS. THE PHASE II PROJECT WILL PROVIDE THE NECESSARY SCALING DATA AND RELATIONS FOR CARRYING THIS TECHNOLOGY TO COMMERCIALIZATION.