System for removal or sulfur compounds from gases and for regenerating spent sorbents

Claim 1

A system for the desulfurization of hot gases with sorbent which reacts with sulfur compounds in the hot gas, comprising: (a) a gravity fed absorber having means for feeding the sorbent into the top of the absorber, means for moving a bed of sorbent through the absorber in contact with the hot gas containing sulfur compounds and means for introducing the hot gases containing sulfur compounds into the absorber and for withdrawing hot gas having sulfur compounds removed therefrom in such a manner that the hot gases move in a direction countercurrent to the direction of movement of the moving bed; (b) a gravity fed regenerator having means defining a first regeneration stage, means defining a second regeneration stage and a means defining a third stage for regenerating, cooling and purging in a single vessel; (c) means for feeding spent sorbent from the absorber to the first regeneration stage of the regenerator; (d) means for moving the bed of spent sorbent from the first regeneration stage to the second regeneration stage and thereafter to the third stage for regenerating, cooling and purging; (e) a gas inlet means for adding an oxygen-containing gas to the first regeneration stage to contact the spent sorbent and to regenerate at least part of the spent sorbent, the oxygen-containing gas being added to the first regeneration stage to provide a flow of oxygen-containing gas in a direction which is cocurrent with the direction of flow of the spent sorbent; (f) means to control the amount of oxygen contacting the spent sorbent and thereby control heat generated by reaction between the oxygen and the spent sorbent in the first regeneration stage; (g) a gas inlet means for adding an oxygen-containing gas to the second regeneration stage to contact the spent sorbent and thereby form a bed of regenerated sorbent, the oxygen-containing gas being added to the second regeneration stage to provide a flow of oxygen-containing gas in a direction which is cocurrent with the direction of flow of the spent sorbent in the second regeneration stage; (h) means to control the amount of oxygen contacting the spent sorbent and thereby control heat generated by reaction between the oxygen and the spent sorbent in the second regeneration stage; (i) a gas inlet means for passing an oxygen-containing gas into the third stage for regenerating, cooling and purging regenerated sorbent therein, the oxygen-containing gas being added to the third stage to provide a flow of oxygen-containing gas in a direction countercurrent to the direction of flow of the movable bed of regenerated sorbent; (j) a gas outlet means for removing from the regenerator the gas from the two gas inlets which flows in a direction cocurrent with the movable bed in the first and second regeneration stages and the gas from the gas inlet which flows in a direction countercurrent with the direction of the movable bed in the third stage; (k) means for diverting at least part of the gas removed from the regenerator through the gas outlet to the gas inlet of the first regeneration stage and to the gas inlet of the second regeneration stage, the remainder of the gas being removed as product; and (l) means for removing regenerated sorbent from the regenerator and feeding the regenerated sorbent into the top of the absorber.

Claim 2

A system for the desulfurization of hot gases with sorbent which reacts with sulfur compounds in the hot gas, comprising: (a) a gravity fed absorber having means for feeding the sorbent into the top of the absorber, means for moving a bed of sorbent through the absorber in contact with the hot gas containing sulfur compounds and means for introducing the hot gases containing sulfur compounds into the absorber and for withdrawing hot gas having sulfur compounds removed therefrom in such a manner that the hot gases move in a direction countercurrent to the direction of movement of the moving bed; (b) a gravity fed regenerator having means defining a first regeneration stage, means defining a second regeneration stage and a means defining a third stage for regenerating, cooling and purging in a single vessel; (c) means for feeding spent sorbent from the absorber to the first regeneration stage of the regenerator; (d) means for moving the bed of spent sorbent from the first regeneration stage to the second regeneration stage and thereafter to the third stage for regenerating, cooling and purging; (e) a gas inlet means for adding an oxygen-containing gas to the first regeneration stage to contact the spent sorbent and to regenerate at least part of the spent sorbent, the oxygen-containing gas being added to the first regeneration stage to provide a flow of oxygen-containing gas in a direction which is cocurrent with the direction of flow of the spent sorbent; (f) means to control the amount of oxygen contacting the spent sorbent and thereby control heat generated by reaction between the oxygen and the spent sorbent in the first regeneration stage; (g) a gas inlet means for adding an oxygen-containing gas to the second regeneration stage to contact the spent sorbent and thereby form a bed of regenerated sorbent, the oxygen-containing gas being added to the second regeneration stage to provide a flow of oxygen-containing gas in a direction which is cocurrent with the direction of flow of the spent sorbent in the second regeneration stage; (h) means to control the amount of oxygen contacting the spent sorbent and thereby control heat generated by reaction between the oxygen and the spent sorbent in the second regeneration stage; (i) a gas inlet means for passing an oxygen-containing gas into the third stage for regenerating, cooling and purging regenerated sorbent therein, the oxygen-containing gas being added to the third stage to provide a flow of oxygen-containing gas in a direction countercurrent to the direction of flow of the movable bed of regenerated sorbent; (j) a gas outlet means for removing from the regenerator the gas from the two gas inlets which flows in a direction cocurrent with the movable bed in the first and second regeneration stages and the gas from the gas inlet which flows in a direction countercurrent with the direction of the movable bed in the third stage; (k) means for diverting at least part of the gas removed from the regenerator through the gas outlet to the gas inlet of the first regeneration stage and to the gas inlet of the second regeneration stage, the remainder of the gas being removed as product; and (l) means for removing regenerated sorbent from the regenerator and feeding the regenerated sorbent into the top of the absorber.

Claim 11

A device for converting an absorption mass of spent metal-sulfur compound to a form comprising a re-usable metal oxide comprising: (a) a regenerator having means defining a first regeneration stage, means defining a second regeneration stage and a means defining a third stage for cooling and purging in a single vessel; (b) means for feeding the spent metal-sulfur compound to the first regeneration stage of the regenerator; (c) means for moving the bed of spent metal-sulfur compound from the first regeneration stage to the second regeneration stage and thereafter to the third stage for cooling and purging; (d) a gas inlet means for adding an oxygen-containing gas to the first regeneration stage to contact the spent metal-sulfur compound and to regenerate at least part of the spent metal-sulfur compound, the oxygen-containing gas being added to the first regeneration stage to provide a cocurrent flow of oxygen-containing gas and spent metal-sulfur compound; (e) means to control the amount of oxygen contacting the spent metal-sulfur compound and thereby control heat generated in the reaction between the oxygen and the spent metal-sulfur compound in the first regeneration stage; (f) a gas inlet means for adding an oxygen-containing gas to the second regeneration stage to contact the spent metal-sulfur compound and thereby form a bed of re-usable metal oxide, the oxygen-containing gas being added to the second regeneration stage to provide a cocurrent flow of oxygen-containing gas and spent metal-sulfur compound in the second regeneration stage; (g) means to control the amount of oxygen contacting the spent metal-sulfur compound and thereby control heat generated by the reaction between the oxygen and the spent metal-sulfur compound in the second regeneration stage; (h) a gas inlet for passing an oxygen-containing gas into the third stage for cooling and purging re-usable metal oxide therein, the oxygen-containing gas being added to the third stage to provide a flow of oxygen-containing gas in a direction countercurrent to the direction of the moving bed of re-usable metal oxide; (i) a gas outlet for removing from the regenerator the gas from the two gas inlets which gas flows in a direction cocurrent with the moving bed in the first and second regeneration stages and the gas from the gas inlet which gas flows in a direction countercurrent to the moving bed in the third stage; (j) means for diverting at least part of the gas removed from the regenerator through the gas outlet to the gas inlet of the first regeneration stage and to the gas inlet of the second regeneration stage and passing the excess gas removed from the regenerator from the system; and (k) means for removing re-usable metal oxide from the regenerator.

Claim 12

A device for converting an absorption mass of spent metal-sulfur compound to a form comprising a re-usable metal oxide comprising: (a) a regenerator having means defining a first regeneration stage, means defining a second regeneration stage and a means defining a third stage for cooling and purging in a single vessel; (b) means for feeding the spent metal-sulfur compound to the first regeneration stage of the regenerator; (c) means for moving the bed of spent metal-sulfur compound from the first regeneration stage to the second regeneration stage and thereafter to the third stage for cooling and purging; (d) a gas inlet means for adding an oxygen-containing gas to the first regeneration stage to contact the spent metal-sulfur compound and to regenerate at least part of the spent metal-sulfur compound, the oxygen-containing gas being added to the first regeneration stage to provide a cocurrent flow of oxygen-containing gas and spent metal-sulfur compound; (e) means to control the amount of oxygen contacting the spent metal-sulfur compound and thereby control heat generated in the reaction between the oxygen and the spent metal-sulfur compound in the first regeneration stage; (f) a gas inlet means for adding an oxygen-containing gas to the second regeneration stage to contact the spent metal-sulfur compound and thereby form a bed of re-usable metal oxide, the oxygen-containing gas being added to the second regeneration stage to provide a cocurrent flow of oxygen-containing gas and spent metal-sulfur compound in the second regeneration stage; (g) means to control the amount of oxygen contacting the spent metal-sulfur compound and thereby control heat generated by the reaction between the oxygen and the spent metal-sulfur compound in the second regeneration stage; (h) a gas inlet for passing an oxygen-containing gas into the third stage for cooling and purging re-usable metal oxide therein, the oxygen-containing gas being added to the third stage to provide a flow of oxygen-containing gas in a direction countercurrent to the direction of the moving bed of re-usable metal oxide; (i) a gas outlet for removing from the regenerator the gas from the two gas inlets which gas flows in a direction cocurrent with the moving bed in the first and second regeneration stages and the gas from the gas inlet which gas flows in a direction countercurrent to the moving bed in the third stage; (j) means for diverting at least part of the gas removed from the regenerator through the gas outlet to the gas inlet of the first regeneration stage and to the gas inlet of the second regeneration stage and passing the excess gas removed from the regenerator from the system; and (k) means for removing re-usable metal oxide from the regenerator.