| Claus plants in refineries process concentrated hydrogen sulfide (H2S) fractions converting them into elemental sulfur. They can also remove pollutants, particularly by decomposing ammonia.
Stricter environmental regulation leads to products with lower sulfur contents. As a result Claus plant loadings with H2S and ammonia are increasing and the Claus plant may become a bottleneck.
The problem can be overcomed by oxygen enrichment of the combustion air. That increases the capacity significantly. A new type of burner ensures excellent mixing of H2S and oxygen enriched air over a wide load range.
Benefits of oxygen enrichment:
- Increased Claus plant capacity
- Increased productivity without changing the pressure drop
- More effective treatment of ammonia containing feeds
- Less effort for tail gas purification (reduced nitrogen flow)
Capacity increase in (%) by oxygen enrichment:
(Click on the diagram for a larger picture)
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