Process for removing sulfur dioxide from gas streams

Claim 1

In the process for removing sulfur dioxide from a gas stream comprising sulfur dioxide, water, nitrogen and oxygen wherein said gas stream is treated in adsorption system comprising at least three fixed beds of activated crystalline zeolitic molecular sieve adsorbent, each of said three fixed beds cyclically undergoing the sequential steps of a. adsorption, whereby the said gas stream is passed thereinto at a temperature of from 10° to 50° C. and sulfur dioxide and water are selectively adsorbed therein. b. desorption wherein air containing less than 5 ppm water vapor by volume and at a temperature of from 150° to 350° C. is passed as a purge gas countercurrently therethrough to desorb sulfur dioxide and water and flush same from the bed, c. cooldown wherein an air stream at a temperature of from 0° to 60° C. and containing less than 200 ppm water vapor is passed cocurrently, with respect to the direction of flow during the adsorption step, through said bed, the cyclic operation of the beds in the system being such that at some given time each of the said three beds in undergoing a different one of the said steps than the other two beds the improvement which comprises preparing the air stream employed in step (c) by passing ambient air containing more than 200 ppm water vapor through a sulfuric acid scrubber to reduce the water vapor content thereof to between 10 and 200 ppm by volume and using the effluent air stream from the bed undergoing step (c) to desorb the bed undergoing step (b), said effluent air stream being dehydrated to contain not more than 5 ppm water vapor by volume by passage through the said bed undergoing step (c).