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Sizing Iron Sponge Units for Sulfur Removal in Natural Gas

In last post we learned about one type of sulfur removal which is using iron sponge unit. Brief review, iron sponge is economically applied for gas containing small concentration of hydrogen sulfide, usually below 300 ppm. Iron sponge unit can not be used to remove carbon dioxide.

In this post, I want to continue the topic about iron sponge unit. More specifically about how to preliminary size iron sponge unit.

At least there are four parameters that we want to know in sizing iron sponge units:

  1. Minimum diameter of iron sponge vessel
  2. Maximum diameter of iron sponge vessel
  3. Required bed height
  4. Quantity of iron sponge
  5. Bed life of iron sponge between change out

Vessel Diameter

Why do we need to know minimum diameter of iron sponge vessel? Read More

Gas Sweetening using Iron Sponge Process

Iron sponge process is economically applied for gases containing small concentration of hydrogen sulfide (H2S), usually less than 300 ppm, operating from low to moderate pressure in a range of 3.45-34.5 barg (50-500 psig). Iron sponge process cannot be used to remove carbon dioxide.

Iron sponge process is the oldest and still the most widely used batch process for sweetening of natural gas and natural gas liquids. Overall, iron sponge process has the following characteristics which make it still attractive to be applied: simple process, low capital cost, and relatively low chemical (iron oxide) cost. Furthermore, pressure has a relatively little effect on its adsorptive capacity of a gas sweetening agent. Read More