Desulfurization or desulphurisation is a chemical process for the removal of

sulfur Sulfur (or sulphur in British English) is a chemical element with the symbol S and atomic number 16. It is abundant, multivalent and nonmetallic. Under normal conditions, sulfur atoms form cyclic octatomic molecules with a chemical formula ...

from a material. This involves either the removal of sulfur from a molecule (''e.g.'' A=S → A:) or the removal of sulfur compounds from a mixture such as oil refinery streams. These processes are of great industrial and environmental importance as they provide the bulk of sulfur used in industry (

Claus process The Claus process is the most significant gas desulfurizing process, recovering elemental sulfur from gaseous hydrogen sulfide. First patented in 1883 by the chemist Carl Friedrich Claus, the Claus process has become the industry standard. Th ...

and

Contact process The contact process is the current method of producing sulfuric acid in the high concentrations needed for industrial processes. Platinum was originally used as the catalyst for this reaction; however, as it is susceptible to reacting with arsenic ...

), sulfur-free compounds that could otherwise not be used in a great number of catalytic processes, and also reduce the release of harmful sulfur compounds into the environment, particularly

sulfur dioxide Sulfur dioxide (IUPAC-recommended spelling) or sulphur dioxide (traditional Commonwealth English) is the chemical compound with the formula . It is a toxic gas responsible for the odor of burnt matches. It is released naturally by volcanic activ ...

(SO₂) which leads to

acid rain Acid rain is rain or any other form of precipitation that is unusually acidic, meaning that it has elevated levels of hydrogen ions (low pH). Most water, including drinking water, has a neutral pH that exists between 6.5 and 8.5, but acid ...

. Processes used for desulfurization include hydrodesulfurization, SNOX process and the

wet sulfuric acid process The wet sulfuric acid process (WSA process) is a gas desulfurization process. After Danish company Haldor Topsoe introduced this technology in 1987, it has been recognized as a process for recovering sulfur from various process gases in the form ...

(WSA process).

References

Chemical processes Sulfur {{Reaction-stub

See also

References