Enhancing the reliability of sulphur plant starts in the thermal stage. Matt Coady and Martin McCallister of Delta Controls report on a recently developed and launched insertable process camera that monitors the vessel interior of online Claus thermal reactors, providing valuable process data which will allow plants to make better informed operation decisions.
With energy prices skyrocketing, sulphuric acid plant operators face a heightened challenge to improve plant efficiency. Martin Alvarez from Topsoe discusses how the company’s new high-activity catalyst, VK38+, can help acid plants maximise energy efficiency to secure important economic benefits while simultaneously reducing their carbon footprint.
Daniel R. Egger of Sulzer Chemtech Ltd discusses mist elimination challenges in strong sulphuric acid applications and presents the unique Sulzer KnitMesh XCOAT™ mist eliminator as an ideal solution for corrosive services such as in sulphuric acid drying towers.
Sulphur is a relatively safe and inert solid. However, it has a number of unique physical and chemical properties which can give rise to hazards, particularly during transport and handling.
At the organisation’s first face to face meeting since covid, in Vienna in early October, OPEC+ ministers agreed to cut global oil supplies by 2 million bbl/d in November. OPEC+ is a group of 24 oil-producing nations, made up of the 14 members of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), and 10 other non-OPEC members, including Russia. In a statement, the group said the decision to cut production was made “in light of the uncertainty that surrounds the global economic and oil market outlooks.”
A move towards so-called ‘sustainable aviation fuels’ (SAF) could see refineries having to recast their operations. What might this mean for sulphur production?
Meena Chauhan, Head of Sulphur and Sulphuric Acid Research, Argus Media, assesses price trends and the market outlook for sulphur.
Global demand for rare earth metals is increasing, particularly for electric vehicle batteries and renewable energy devices, potentially leading to increased use of sulphuric acid in their extraction.
Sulphur markets suffered a correction in July-August that was more of a collapse; from $500/t to less than $100/t. Though it seems to have been something of an over-correction, and prices have moved back up since then, it is one of the most extreme price swings that sulphur has ever seen, comparable to the peak and precipitous fall in 2008. Indeed, at a time when commodity prices of all kinds have seen extremely high levels of volatility, sulphur has been more volatile still than just about all of them.
Saudi Aramco has confirmed a phased development approach for its $100 billion-plus Jafurah unconventional onshore gas project, which is expected to produce up to 2 billion cubic feet per day of gas by 2030, raising the company’s overall gas production capacity by 50% over that time frame. Aramco says that the first development phase for the Jafurah gas plant is likely to come on stream by 2025, and it is progressing with the phased development of a project that will reach a raw gas processing capacity of 3.1 bcf/d.