Downsizing a Claus

INFRASTRUCTURE

MINING & METALS

NUCLEAR, SECURITY & ENVIRONMENTAL

Sulfur Recovery Unit
OIL, GAS & CHEMICALS

By Charles L. Kimtantas and Martin A. Taylor

ckimtant@Bechtel.com & mataylo1@Bechtel.com
Bechtel Hydrocarbon Technology Solutions. Inc.
3000 Post Oak Blvd, Houston, Texas 77056

Level 4 - Bechtel Public © 2016 Bechtel

 Background

The drop in crude oil prices from over

$100/barrel to less than $30/barrel has
lowered if not eliminated the economic
advantage of processing high sulfur crudes. In
the USA there is a significant amount of
fracked shale oil available that is low sulfur.
US Refineries can therefore be processing
lower sulfur crudes.

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 Background

Processing of lower sulfur crudes can result in

a significant reduction in the amount of
hydrogen sulfide (H2S) available for
processing into sulfur. In some cases this will
require modification of sulfur recovery units to
handle smaller quantities of H2S.

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 Claus Sulfur Recovery Unit

The Claus sulfur recovery unit (SRU) converts

hydrogen sulfide into elemental sulfur.

The Claus sulfur recovery unit is typically

made up of a thermal reaction stage followed
by 2 or 3 catalytic reactor stages

The typical conversion of the hydrogen sulfide

and its recovery as elemental in a Claus sulfur
recovery unit is 92-96%

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 Claus Sulfur Recovery Unit

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 Sulfur Recovery Unit – Thermal Stage

The Thermal Stage is made up of:

Thermal Reactor (aka reaction furnace)

Acid Gas Burner

Waste Heat Boiler

Sulfur Condenser

Combustion Air Blower

Combustion Air Flow Control System

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 Sulfur Recovery Unit – Thermal Stage

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 Thermal Reactor

The thermal reactor is a horizontal carbon steel

vessel equipped with multiple refractory layers
to protect the steel shell from very high
temperatures (typically over 2000 F).

In the reaction furnace approximately 1/3 of the

H2S is combusted to sulfur dioxide (SO2) to meet
the basic Claus reaction requirements of:

2 H2S + SO2  3/x SX + 2 H2O + heat

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 Acid Gas Burner

Special High Intensity - Engineered burner

capable of handling the acid gases,
combustion air and oxygen (if used).

Bolted via flange or welded to front of the
Thermal Reactor

Includes retractable igniter and sight port(s),
which allow viewing of thermal reactor
internals.

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 Waste Heat Boiler

The hot gases from the reaction furnace are

cooled in a waste heat boiler where steam is
produced.

Typically Fire Tube type steam boiler with external
or integral Steam Drum

Because the reaction furnace temperature is
usually above 2000 ºF, high pressure saturated
steam (up to 600 psig) can be produced that is
used to heat the catalytic reactor feeds or as
motive steam for a steam driven combustion air
blower.

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 Thermal Sulfur Condenser

The partially cooled gases from the waste heat

boiler are further cooled in the thermal stage
sulfur condenser.

Shell and Tube type heat exchanger that
typically generates LP steam

The elemental sulfur is condensed and
separated with the process gas proceeding to
the catalytic stages and the liquid sulfur
product being routed to a liquid sulfur storage
pit or tank.

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 Combustion Air Blower

The oxygen for the reaction is supplied by a

combustion air blower.
─ Centrifugal compressor-blower
─ Positive displacement blower for small units

Some units may have the oxygen supplied

from an offsite air separation unit at
concentration significantly higher than the dry
gas 21% ambient air oxygen content.

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 Combustion Air Flow Control System

Monitors the flow rates of the amine acid gas,

the sour water stripper acid gas, and the
natural gas used for start-up or co-processing
and calculates the amount of combustion air
rate required to generate the sulfur dioxide
(SO2) required for the classic Claus reaction
2 H2S + SO2  3/x Sx + 2 H2O

The system receives feedback from the SRU
tail gas H2S-SO2 analyzer .

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 Sulfur Recovery Unit – Catalytic Stage

Catalytic Reactor Feed Heating System

─ Heats the reactor feed to the appropriate reactor temperature
─ Indirect Reheat with HP Steam, hot oil, or electric power
─ Direct Fired In-line Burners
─ Hot Gas Bypass

Catalytic Reactor
─ Activated alumina catalyst

Sulfur Condenser
─ The elemental sulfur is condensed out of the process gas and
separated.
─ Typically a shell & tube type exchanger with LP Steam
generation

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 Catalytic Stage

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 Affects of Flow on Unit Operations

During turndown, the mass flow through the unit is

reduced. This affects heat transfer coefficients
within the heat transfer equipment, such as, the
sulfur condensers and reheat exchangers.
.8
Q = UA∆T U=݂(‫) ݓ݋݈ܨݏݏܽܯ‬ 0

The total heat released due to reaction is reduced,

both in the thermal reactor and the catalytic
reactor(s).

There are lower temperatures throughout the unit,
due to constant atmospheric heat losses.
∆TProc = (QReact - QLoss)/(MassFlow*HeatCap)

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 Affects of Flow on Unit Operations

Flow Measurement and control can be limited

due to basic instrumentation restrictions; the
newer “smart” transmitters do improve the
measurement situation and special control
valves (multi-hole ball valves) can be used to
mitigate the physical limitations.

Flow Distribution in catalyst beds are a
function of flow rate and therefore will be
impacted by reduced flow.

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 Areas of Concern

Basic Flow Ratio Control of combustion air -

oxygen to amine acid gas and SWS acid gas.

Acid Gas Burner mixing

Combustion Air Blower

Waste Heat Boiler heat transfer and sulfur
condensation

Sulfur Condenser heat transfer

Sulfur Condenser fog formation

Reheater heat transfer or air to fuel ratio for
fired reheater

Catalytic reactor insulation - Heat loss

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 Flow Ratio Control

The primary control valve to evaluate is on the

combustion air. This valve may have to be
changed to provide reasonable controllability.
If parallel flow meters are installed, then it
would be very simple to install a second
combustion air control valve.

The boiler and the condenser BFW control
valves and the incinerator/stack fuel gas
control valve should be checked and replaced
if necessary.

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 Acid Gas Burner

The acid gas burner may require modifications

to handle the lower acid gas flows. Most acid
gas burner designs use turbulence to provide
good mixing. The turbulence is generated
using high velocities. These velocities were
provided at the design flow rates of air and
acid gas. With lower rates, the burner may not
be able to generate the turbulence required for
good mixing and may not perform properly. A
new burner may be required, or modifications
to the existing burner may be possible.

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 Combustion Air Blower

The combustion air blower will continue to

operate with the lower combustion air
requirements. The only problem will be a very
large amount of blow-off from the blower,
which translates to potential noise.

Slowing down the blower may help solve the
problem.
─ Steam turbine driven allows for slowing down the turbine.
─ Electric driven would require the addition of an electronic
variable speed controller.

A good quality blow-off silencer can be
provided to reduce the noise

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 Waste Heat Boiler

The boiler is a heat transfer device. There will be

too much surface area within the boiler to
maintain the original design outlet temperature. If
the outlet temperature drops below the sulfur dew
point of the boiler outlet stream, the sulfur will be
condensed within the boiler. Some boilers have
sulfur rundown legs and some do not. Those
boilers that do not have rundown legs should be
checked to insure that sulfur produced within the
boiler can drain through the condenser.
Otherwise, a new sulfur rundown leg or seal pot
will be required.

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 Waste Heat Boiler

To reduce surface area, plugging of the tubes

may be required and can be permanent or
temporary.
─ A permanent plug would be a tapered steel plug driven into
each end of the tube. A vent hole must be drilled in the tube to
prevent the buildup of pressure due to heat expanding the
trapped gas.
─ A temporary plug using a 3-6 inch plug of refractory can be in-
stalled. This will effectively plug the tube. Since most
refractories can breath, the problem of pressure building up in
the tube is reduced.

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 Waste Heat Boiler

It is possible to plug only one end of the tube.

However, experience indicates that sulfur
gases may migrate into the dead zone of the
plugged tube. This can then cause severe
corrosion due to condensation of water with
H2S, SO2 and elemental sulfur during a
shutdown period of the unit.

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 Sulfur Condenser Surface Area

The sulfur condensers are heat transfer

devices.

A problem with the condensers is too much
surface area, which can cause the outlet
temperatures to be much lower than design
and impact the operation of the downstream
reheat system.

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 Sulfur Condenser Surface Area

The condenser flow area may be reduced by

plugging condenser tubes. A tapered steel
plug can be driven into each end of the tubes,
with a drilled vent hole. Sometimes this vent is
drilled in the tube wall to prevent process
gases migrating into the sealed tubes. This is
a permanent reduction in tube count.

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 Sulfur Condenser Surface Area

Temporary plugging can be accomplished by

attaching a flat plate over the inlet tube ends.
This plate should not be sealed to the tube
sheet, but should just divert the gases to the
other tubes. A 1/4 to 3/8 inch space should be
provided between the plate and the tube ends.
Since the plate is not sealed over the tubes,
the sulfur gases can be flushed out of the
tubes, when the unit is purged during
shutdown. This reduces potential corrosion
problems.

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 Sulfur Condenser Mist Pad Area

Some sulfur condensers have mist eliminators

installed in the outlet channels to reduce the
amount of sulfur entrainment in the condenser
outlet gas. Mist eliminator operation is
primarily based on impingement. With the
reduced flows in the unit, the gas may not
have sufficient velocity for the entrained sulfur
to impact on the mist eliminator. It may be
desirable to reduce the mist eliminator flow
area to that recommend by the manufacturer
for efficient operation.

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 Sulfur Condenser fog formation

The mass velocity in the sulfur condenser

tubes will be lower than design. When the tube
velocity is too low, there is not enough
turbulence within the tubes to cause the sulfur
being formed to impinge on the tube wall and
coalesce. The sulfur remains suspended in the
gas phase as a fog or fine mist. This fog will
tend to flow through the unit without ever
coalescing and will reduce the overall sulfur
recovery of the unit.

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 Reheater Heat Transfer

The reheat exchanger is a heat transfer device

and will be affected by the reduced flow rate.
There are two compounding effects of low
flow.
─ The first is the reduced heat transfer coefficient.
─ The second is lower inlet temperature because of the excess
surface area in the upstream condenser. The outlet from the
reheat exchanger is the catalytic reactor inlet, which is a
process control point.
─ The reheat exchanger will have to be checked for proper
operation and possibly replaced. In general, the exchanger will
work, however, there have been cases were it was necessary
to replace the exchanger. The heating media control system
should be checked for proper sizing.

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 Bypass Reheat

In a bypass reheat unit, the catalytic reactor inlet

temperature is obtained by mixing the cold sulfur
condenser outlet gas with hot gas from the middle
of a two pass waste heat boiler.
─ At low flow conditions the boiler will have excessive surface area
and the temperatures within the boiler will be lower than design.
─ This will require more hot gas to be bypassed to the catalytic
reactor to achieve the desired reactor inlet temperature.
─ As the amount of bypass gas increases, the dew point of the
reactor inlet gas increases, which can result in the gases being
below the sulfur dew point. When this happens, sulfur is formed as
a fine mist or fog and can pass through the unit without being
removed.

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 Bypass Reheat

There is also the possibility of depositing liquid

sulfur onto the catalyst and plugging the
catalyst pores. The plugged catalyst pores will
reduce the active catalyst area and contribute
to a further reduction in the sulfur recovery.

Obviously, a bypass reheat unit will require the
plugging of boiler tubes to maintain proper
operation or the installation of new reheat
exchangers.

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 InLine Burners for Reheat

Inline burners operate by mixing the cold

condenser outlet gases with hot combustion
products.

These combustion products are either from
the combustion of a fuel gas or the amine acid
gas feed.
─ The burner will probably require modification.
─ The inline burner control instrumentation should be evaluated
and modified as necessary to provide good, stable operations.

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 Reactor Flow Distribution

The next item of equipment is the catalytic

reactor. The design basis for the catalytic
reactor is maximum space velocity through the
catalyst bed. Since the flows will be lower, the
velocities will be lower and modifications may
be required. Care must be used to insure that
flow through the catalyst bed is uniform,
without channeling or dead zones, at the low
rates. This may require replacing the catalyst
with smaller sized catalyst.

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 Reactor Insulation – Heat Loss

A critical problem with the catalytic reactor can

be inadequate insulation. Usually, on large
sulfur recovery units there is 3-4 inches of
insulation on the vessel shell and no insulation
on the manways and catalyst dumps. Because
flows and reaction heats are lower, the heat
loss to the atmosphere can become critical.
Additional insulation should be added to the
vessel shell for a total thickness of 6-8 inches
plus insulation should be added to the
manways and catalyst dumps.

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 Summary

FEs and CVs

─ utility and process

Burner performance

Blower noise

Tube plugging in WHB and Sulfur Condensers
─ Potential need for a seal leg or seal pot on WHB

Mist pad performance

Sulfur fog

Reheater duty and performance

Reactor channeling

Reactor heat loss
─ manways and catalyst dumps

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