Section: Features

While Brazil is the largest consumer, trade in acid in South America has been dominated

The US and Israel attacks on Iran and the Iranian response have thrown commodity markets into chaos, with sulphur and sulphuric acid particularly affected.

The US Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB) has released its final investigation report into the fatal release of hydrogen sulphide at the PEMEX Deer Park Refinery in Texas in October 2024.

With the decline of Venezuela’s production, Canada’s oil sands now represent 90% of all oil sands output, and a significant share of North America’s sulphur production.

Sulphur recovery units in petroleum refineries and natural gas processing plants utilise incineration as a final treatment step for tail gas, ensuring that residual sulphur compounds are converted to less harmful emissions. Elmo Nasato of Nasato Consulting Ltd compares the two sulphur plant incinerator options – thermal incineration and catalytic incineration – including key considerations for policymakers, businesses, and environmental advocates.

The 8th SulGas® Mumbai sulphur recovery and gas treating conference and exhibition, organised by Three Ten Initiative Technologies LLP, took place on 5 and 6 February 2026. We report on some of the key topics on the agenda.

Siemens explains how digital process twins and real-time optimisation can be used to achieve significant cost savings and reduce emissions at industrial sites.

Cover story! CASALE's Gabriele Marcon outlines how integrated fertilizer production can support global food security.

Efficient sulphur recovery is essential for modern refineries to meet stringent environmental regulations and support sustainability goals. Fluor examines the key design considerations, smart design strategies and flexible sulphur block configurations that are essential in achieving an overall optimised design. Together, these strategies enhance efficiency, reduce emissions, improve reliability, and provide flexibility for changing crude qualities, ensuring compliant and economically robust refinery operations.

We celebrate the life and career of renowned agronomist Dr Patricia Imas by looking back at her insightful articles from the last decade.