32
Catalyst
to Improve Small-Scale Claus Plants--TDA
Research, Inc., 12345 West 52nd Avenue, Wheat Ridge, CO
80033-1917; 303-940-2300
Dr.
Girish Srinivas, Principal Investigator, srinivas@tda.com
Mr.
John D. Wright, Business Official, jdwsright@tda.com
DOE
Grant No. DE-FG03-02ER83552
Amount:
$100,000
Although
the Claus process is the dominant process used for recovering sulfur from
natural gas, its conversion is limited by equilibrium, and two or three Claus
stages are needed to recover most of the sulfur.
In addition, expensive tail gas treatment processes are needed to bring
large Claus plants under environmental compliance.
This project will develop a novel catalyst that provides a higher
conversion of sulfur compounds in the Claus reactor.
The use of this catalyst would decrease emissions of sulfur compounds in
Claus processes, significantly reducing the amount of investment and operating
costs needed for gas processors to meet their emissions requirements.
Phase I will design, synthesize, and screen a series of catalysts, and
the most promising will be thoroughly investigated to determine its activity and
durability. A detailed process and
economic analysis will be undertaken to determine the benefits of the technology
to the gas industry.
Commercial
Applications and Other Benefits
as described by the awardee: The
increased recovery efficiency from the use of the new catalyst should benefit
existing Claus plants and eliminate the need to install costly tail gas clean up
technology. The improved catalyst
should also find use in new grass roots Claus plant installations.