Safe sulphur recovery.

A dedicated sulfur recovery unit webpage has been launched by Applied Analytics™ [AAI], to provide clients with a clear picture of the solutions we can provide. The webpage includes a process flow diagram of the sulfur recovery unit and calls out the measurement points of interest with descriptions and pictures of our equipment.

Hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) is a byproduct of processing natural gas and high-sulphur crude oil. At low concentrations, H₂S has an odor much like rotten eggs, is corrosive and fatal at concentrations greater than 500 ppmvl. This extremely dangerous byproduct must be closely monitored and the amount of H₂S released to the atmosphere must be minimised.

A Sulfur Recovery Plant serves to convert H₂S in an incoming gas stream into elemental sulphur where it can be stored or repurposed. Sulphur recovery plants are required to recover 95 to 99.99% of the total sulfur that is introduced into the plant. Emissions regulations are becoming more stringent with each year that passes, which is why high-quality industrial analysis equipment in Sulphur Recovery Plants is of major importance. Applied Analytics Inc. manufactures analytical solutions used to control and optimize the operation of the sulfur recovery unit including measurements in the sour/acid gas inlet, Claus tail gas, tail gas treatment unit (TGTU) and sulphur pit.

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Chlor-alkali Process.

Chlor-alkali refers to the chemicals simultaneously being produced as a result of electrolysis of a saltwater or brine solution. Typically, the chlor-alkali process produces two chemicals, chlorine and sodium hydroxide (caustic soda, NaOH). Over 95% of the world's chlorine is produced in the chlor-alkali process.

Monitoring the Cl2 and NCl3 impurity throughout the chlor-alkali process is vital for safety concerns, environmental regulations, and process efficiency purposes.

AAI's OMA-300-CL2 analyzer showcases a seamless dynamic range of the OMA Series from low ppm up to high % concentrations of chlorine and chlorine-based compounds. A flow diagram of the chlor-alkali process with measuring points is available upon request.

In the chlor-alkali process, using an electrolytic cell, chlorine is gathered by running an electric current across a brine solution. The 'wet' chlorine from the electrolytic cell is then purified further by removing moisture via a cooling tower, filtration and sulfuric acid drying towers. The gaseous chlorine is put through a liquefaction process where liquid chlorine is produced along with the byproduct tail gas/sniff gas stream, made up of the gas not liquified during liquefaction process. The tail gas/sniff gas stream is sent to a caustic scrubber for further gas processing. The final chlorine product from the chlor-alkali process often feeds directly into EDC/VCM plants which is a precursor to PVC.

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Dedicated analyser for H2S in crude oil

Applied Analytics (AAI) has released a second revision of the OMA-300 H2S Analyzer Crude Oil Edition. This product is a specialised configuration of the OMA-300 H2S system equipped with a headspace sample conditioning system. This sampling technique is used to monitor an opaque liquid process; when a sample is too dark or dirty to transmit a light signal, the headspace system produces a representative vapor-phase sample that can be easily monitored via ultraviolet-visible absorbance spectroscopy and correlated to the chemical composition of the liquid process.

“Measuring hydrogen sulfide in crude has become one of our hottest applications,” says Dan Murphy, senior mechanical engineer. “AAI has always offered a highly effective solution for measuring hydrogen sulfide in opaque liquids, but the current demand for crude analysis has given us cause to rethink our offering. The process resulted in modifications to the Crude Oil Edition of the OMA-300 H2S. The refined design puts everything in one enclosure and adds the capability to monitor multiple crude streams at once using multiple headspace columns running in parallel.”

New website for a new decade

AAI (Applied Analytics) has now cut the ribbon on our fully redesigned website. The new interface accompanies our expanded product line as we venture onward into the future of online process analysis.

To streamline the customer experience, we have placed most of the site navigation within the dropdown menu at the top of the screen and enabled the user to select a product by industry, by compounds to be monitored, by known applications, or by model number. Users might also be interested in browsing the "concepts" section where we elucidate the key principles of AAI technology: UV absorbance, system integration, VCSEL laser spectroscopy, and more.