METHOD OF CONTROL OF SULPHUR PRODUCTION PROCESS ACCORDING TO CLAUS Russian patent published in 2018 - IPC C01B17/04 G05D27/00 

FIELD: oil and gas industry.

SUBSTANCE: control of process of production of elemental sulphur according to Claus method, including a thermal stage and at least one stage of catalytic conversion, is conducted by adjusting the stoichiometric ratio of the volume of combustion air to the volume of the acid gas supplied to the thermal stage in real time. This adjustment is carried out depending on the composition of the initial acid gas and the Claus process waste gas, by changing the combustion air flow rate. The combustion air flow is adjusted using a multiparametric sequential model calculated for the thermal stage and the catalytic conversion stage under various boundary conditions. This multiparameter model predicts the state of the information-measuring and control system. To construct the model, an analysis of physicochemical processes and the equations of nonequilibrium thermodynamics for both stages is made. Concentration of components, pressure and temperature of total process gas stream at the outlet from the thermal stage are calculated. The components of the process gas at the outlet of the thermal stage are H₂S, SO₂, H₂O, O₂, H₂, CO, CO₂, COS, CS₂ S. The results of the calculations are used as input data for modelling the catalytic stage. Taking into account the concentrations of sulfur compounds in the Claus waste gases process, a functional that is part of the optimisation criterion for process control and determines its achievement is built up. Based on this, the combustion air flow in real time is adjusted to achieve the optimisation criterion. In this case, supply of the main and balancing combustion air is calculated.

EFFECT: invention makes it possible to increase efficiency of sulfur recovery and to manage the process in real time.

6 cl, 7 dwg, 1 tbl, 1 ex