Experimental examination of syngas recovery from acid gases

This paper shows the potential for valuable syngas (H₂ and CO) production from a laboratory-scale reactor, as an alternative and viable means for the treatment of acid gas (H₂S and CO₂). Claus process technology currently used for acid gas treatment often suffers from lack of high process efficiency due to various impurities present in acid gas that cause non-uniform gas composition. Increased environmental regulations on sulfur emissions have challenged environmental engineers to seek safe, reliable and efficient means of acid gas conversion to useful products. This paper provides suitable input and operational conditions of the reactor that helps to produce syngas from acid gas, having wide range of composition at high conversion rate of acid gas (H₂S and CO₂) to minimize environmental burden. The results reveal the importance of reactor temperature and the role provided by CO₂ in acid gas on the composition of syngas produced. The results show that a reactor temperature of 1373-1473K and high residence time favors the production of syngas at high conversion efficiency of acid gas. The syngas produced can be utilized for energy generation or value added products. The operational conditions provide means to quantify reactor performance with different composition of the syngas to aid in the production of biofuels and value added products.