SULPHUR RECOVERY UNIT TAIL GAS INCINERATOR

Ziel

To demonstrate the fuel savings achievable in the incineration of sulphur recovery unit tail gas by the use of a forced draught swirl combustor with a recuperative heat exchanger preheating the tail gas. Fuel savings were expected to be worth L 55000 per year with a payback periode of 2.2 years.
The abandonment of the project was caused by serious delays which led to a decline in the value of the market for such equipment to our subsidiary, Kaldair Limited, who had planned to exploit the technology, and which had allowed competing technology to be improved. The delays had also caused an increase in costs, and economic failure was to be anticipated. The delays were due to the closure of operations at the refinery originally chosen as the demonstration site, and a prolonged shutdown of the sulphur recovery unit at the second site. No useful results have therefore been obtained.
1. Innovative technology :
Waste gas streams containing small quantities of toxic, odorous or other combustible components are of increasing concern environmentally. An example is the tail gas from Claus process sulphur recovery units, which may contain up to 1 to 2% of hydrogen sulphide.
This incineration system is designed to minimise the support fuel needed to destroy low calorific value streams of this type, through the following features :
* Recuperative heat recovery, by which the tail gas is preheated by heat exchange with the incinerator exhaust gases,
* Reduction in the excess air and temperatures needed for combustion, by the use of a forced-draught swirl combustor giving efficient mixing.
2. The context in which the technology is operating :
The incineration system was installed in parallel with an existing natural-draught incinerator on the sulphur recovery unit at BP Oil's Grangemouth Refinery in Scotland. The sulphur recovery unit converts hydrogen sulphide, separated from refinery streams, to elemental sulphur.
It uses the Claus process, in which the hydrogen sulphide is partly oxidised to sulphur dioxide, which is then reacted with the remaining hydrogen sulphide to give sulphur and water vapour. The tail gas consists primarily of nitrogen and water vapour, but contains low levels of unreacted hydrogen sulphide which must be oxidised in a tail gas incinerator before discharge to the atmosphere. The Claus process is widely used at oil refineries and natural gas processing plants.
3. Economic aspects of the technology :
The payback period of 2.2 years was based on an estimated saving of support fuel in comparison with the existing natural draught incinerator, and was calculated from the total cost of the new incinerator. A shorter payback would be estimated for a completely new installation based on the differential cost between the present design and a natural draught unit, the differences being due to the cost of the recuperator, the air blower and more complex controls.
4. Monitoring :
Fuel consumption, flow rates and temperatures were to have been logged over a 6-month period.

Programm/Programme

ENG-ENALT 2C - Programme (EEC) of demonstration projects relating to the exploitation of alternative energy sources and to energy saving and the substitution of hydrocarbons, 1983-1985

Thema/Themen

3.2 - INDUSTRY

Aufforderung zur Vorschlagseinreichung

Data not available

Finanzierungsplan

DEM - Demonstration contracts

Koordinator

British Petroleum plc (BP)

EU-Beitrag

Keine Daten

Adresse

Britannic House Moor Lane
EC24 9BU London
Vereinigtes Königreich

Gesamtkosten