Selective Removal of Hydrogen Sulfide from Gaseous Streams Using a Zinc-Based Sorbent

A sorbent that was developed by Phillips Petroleum Company, now ConocoPhillips Company, has demonstrated very high and stable reactivity under numerous fixed-bed testing regimes in simulated gases. This sorbent, under the tradename of ZSorb III, has been determined to be suitable for sulfur removal applications in a wide range of temperatures (250-650 (degree)C), pressures (2-20 atm), and gas space velocities (3500-10 000 h-1). The suitability of the system has been evaluated according to the following criteria: operational conditions (temperature, pressure), sulfur retention, sulfur capacity, side reactions, mechanical stability, and regeneration features. The execution of the experimental work program has been conducted in a high-temperature, high-pressure bench-scale plant that operates with synthetic gases. The influence of fuel gas components, temperature, pressure, gas hourly space velocity, gas type, and cyclic testing on sulfur sorption has been studied.