Desulfurization of syngas in a transport reactor

Abstract
During gasification, sulfur present in carbonaceous materials is converted into reduced sulfur species, such as H2S and COS. These sulfur species are conventionally removed from syngas by catalytic hydrolysis of COS into H2S, followed by scrubbing of H2S with liquid‐phase amine systems. Amine‐based processes are subject to equipment corrosion, foaming, amine‐solution degradation, and evaporation, and require extensive wastewater treatment. As a result, this sulfur removal technology is complex, capitalintensive, and expensive. Furthermore, this conventional technology requires the syngas be cooled to nearly ambient temperatures, thus wasting valuable energy.New emerging technologies for sulfur removal from syngas use regenerable sorbents, primarily based on ZnO. Recent advances in sorbent technology allow sulfur species to be removed from syngas over a wide temperature range (260° to 760° C), making it an attractive alternative for a wide variety of applications, including power generation, chemical production, and fuel cells. This sorbent technology has advanced to the point that syngas desulfurization can be carried out in both fixed‐and fluidized‐bed reactors, depending upon process design needs. Additional applications of this technology in desulfurization of natural gas and removal of sulfur species from a syngas generated from gasification of black liquor were investigated.

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