Experimental Investigation on Converting the Acid Gas of an HDS Unit to High-Value Products by Methanol Thiolation: Case Study

Abstract

The possibility of using acid gas as feedstock in methanol thiolation reaction was examined with K₂O/WO₃/γ-Al₂O₃ catalysts and the effect of impurities on H₂S conversion and product distribution was evaluated in this paper. The results compared with the case using pure H₂S as feedstock. Three samples of catalysts were synthesized by incipient wetness impregnation. The catalysts are characterized by Brunauer–Emmett–Teller, X-Ray powder Diffraction, and NH3- Temperature programmed desorption methods. Catalytic tests were performed in a fixed-bed flow reactor for an acid gas with 12.2% mol. H₂S. Dimethyl sulphide (DMS) and methanethiol are produced through a methanol thiolation reaction and hydrogen is produced by a hydrocarbon reforming reaction. The catalyst with the lowest acidity showed the best results. H₂S in acid gas converted about 78.6%. The yields were reported about 74.8% and 3.8% for DMS and methanethiol respectively. The amount of hydrogen increased by more than 200% in the reactor outlet.