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Claus Tail Gas Treating Unit (TGTU)

To satisfy more stringent environmental regulations, Claus tail gas has to be treated and cycled to the front end
of the Claus unit. This ensures that virtually all sulphur species are recovered in the sulphur plant and
essentially none are released to the atmosphere. This is achieved by converting all sulphur compounds in the
Claus tail gas back to H2S in a catalytic reactor and capturing the H2S in an amine treater. Only N2 and CO2 are
vented to the atmosphere.
This section describes the SCOT (Shell Claus Offgas Treating) process, which is widely used in the Shell
companies as well as in the industry. Other TGTUs utilized in the Shell are very similar to the SCOT process.
SCOT is the predominant design of TGTUs and this generic CCM is based upon the SCOT process. SCOT will be
use to refer to this section. The following is a simplified process flow diagram. The numbers on the lines are
corrosion loop designations.
Hydrotreating reactor
The reactions occurring in the SCOT reactors include hydro treating, hydrolysis, and water shift.
Claus tail gas exiting the last sulphur condenser is the feed to SCOT. The feed is pre-heated to about 260-290
C (500-550F) via either an inline burner (using natural gas) or in a tube-and-shell exchanger by steam.
Supplemental hydrogen is added if insufficient hydrogen is present in the tail gas.
The pre-heated feed passes through the catalyst bed of the SCOT hydrogenation reactor where SO2 and other
sulphur compounds are converted to H2S. Because the main reaction is exothermic, the gas temperature
increases across the reactor. The delta T across the reactor is a function of SO2 concentration and many other
factors. It can be as little as 10-20C (20-50F) or in upset conditions, over 40C (100F). It is for this reason
that a lower reactor inlet temperature is desired. However, too low reactor inlet temperature (< 260C (< 500
F)) will result in poor conversion.
The hydro treating reactor is typically constructed of carbon steel. There are two type reactor designs, a
'pancake' style or a radial reactor. In 'pancake' reactors, the shell is refractory-lined in the catalyst region to
protect the vessel wall from short exthothermal excursion.
In radial reactors, the catalyst is held within a stainless steel basket (or cage) to prevent local hot catalyst from
contacting the vessel wall. SO2 or O2 excursion can result in significant temperature rises in the catalyst bed
without affecting the bulk outlet temperature.

Sulphur recovery tail gas treating unit corrosion loops

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Quench column
Hot reactor effluent gas must be cooled before entering the SCOT amine absorber. A first stage gas cooling is
accomplished in a waste heat boiler (WHB), generating low-pressure steam (3.4-4.5 barg (50-65 psig)) and
dropping the process stream temperature to about 150-180C (310-350F).
Further gas cooling is accomplished in the SCOT quench column. Here, the gas stream contacts countercurrently with a circulating stream of quench water in a tower (trayed or packed), which removes sensible heat
and condenses water vapour in the gas. The gas exiting the quench column top is mostly N2, CO2, H2S, and
water along with traces of remaining sulphur species (SO2, etc.).
The condensed water at a temperature of 60-80C (140-170F) is re-circulated by a pump through a set of
coolers. The water flow to the top of the tower is controlled to maintain the quench column top's temperature
to match the amine absorber top's temperature (typically 25-40C (80-100F)).
The quench column re-circulation system typically has the provision to adjust the pH by the addition of
ammonia to the quench tower re-circulation line. The pH of the quench water to the quench water circulation
pumps is monitored and held at a value between 6 and 8.5 in an effort to prevent corrosion and inhibit colloidal
sulphur formation. Cloudiness and/or low pH indicate incomplete reduction of sulphur compounds (i.e. SO2
breakthrough).
Excess condensed water from the quench water loop is purged to SWS via level control on the quench column.
The rate depends on the water vapour produced in the Claus unit, water produced in the SCOT reactor, and the
amount of water carried to the overhead in the SCOT quench column.
Booster blower
A number of Shell SCOTs have a booster blower pulling the tail gas and/or quench column overhead, and
pushing through the amine absorber and/or incinerator. This provides additional pressure for the amine treater
and incinerator. Some incinerators using a WHB for heat recovery require forced air and hence a higher DP to
push through to stack.
Incinerator operations
The incinerator is used to convert any remaining reduced sulphur compounds to SO2 prior to discharge to the
atmosphere. The primary feed to the incinerator is SCOT tail gas. However, the incinerator can also process
Claus tail gas when necessary. SO2 and O2 analyzers are provided on the incinerator stack to monitor unit
performance. The incinerator pilot burner is typically designed to be 'robust' under varying process conditions.
Natural gas is provided to the burner to sustain combustion and is controlled by the stack temperature.
Amine absorber
The overhead vapour from the quench column is then treated in an amine system for recovery of H2S. The
amine used for this purpose is typically MDEA. The details of MDEA treating can also be found in Best Practice
Guide MAT-16, 'Corrosion Control in MDEA Systems - Sulphur Recovery Tail Gas Treating', and in the Generic
Corrosion Control Manual for amine units.
The quench column overhead vapour normally flows to the absorber. It can also be diverted to the incinerator
in case the amine unit becomes unavailable. The absorber is usually a column with trays and is designed to
absorb all of the entering H2S but only 10-20% of the CO2. Unfortunately, any residual SO2 not converted to
H2S in the reactor will also be totally absorbed.
The treated gas exiting the absorber top is mostly nitrogen and CO2. Although the absorbers are designed to
slip CO2, some CO2 is retained in the amine solution. The H2S content in the treated gas is typically less than
100 ppmv. The actual levels depend largely on permit limit on SO2. The maximum level allowed is 250 ppmv
SO2 at the incinerate outlet as mandated under NSPS (new source performance standards) by EPA. However,
more stringent environmental limits may be imposed by local government.
The absorber typically operates at very low pressure (0.03-~0.1 barg (0.5-~1 psig)). To achieve maximum
absorption capacity, the absorber operates at the lowest possible temperature. The temperature of the lean
solvent entering the top of the absorber is normally less than 40C (100F). The temperature of the feed gas is
in the range of 25-45C (80-110F). The absorber feed streams are generally at their aqueous dew point (water
saturated). The temperature match between the lean amine in the absorber and the feed gas stream is
important to managing the water balance of the circulating amine. If the amine is cooler than the feed stream,
a portion of water will be captured in the absorber and dilute the amine solution. If the amine circulation
remains the same, this will effectively increase molar loading and the potential for corrosion. If the feed stream

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is cooler than the amine, it will pick up water and dehydrate the solution. Water balance is maintained by
bleeding water from the stripper overhead reflux and by batch addition of makeup water. Water content can
have rapid changes (hours to days) depending upon the operating conditions and have immediate impact on
amine strength. Otherwise, amine strength by itself, even with various degradation mechanisms, does not
normally experience such fast changes unless there are major solvent losses or intentional amine additions.
Hence, water should be measured and adjusted routinely.
Amine regenerator
The solvent, rich in H2S, leaves the absorber bottom and is pumped through the lean/rich exchangers where it
is heated to about 80-110C (180-230F) (by hot lean solvent from the regenerator bottom. There is typically a
control valve located downstream of the lean/rich exchangers to provide backpressure for the hot solvent in
order to minimize vaporization. After the control valve, the rich solvent enters the top section of the
regenerator.
In the regenerator, the rich solvent flashes, releasing much of the H2S to the overhead. The flashed solvent
descending the column is further heated and stripped of H2S (and CO2) gas by the upward flow of steam. The
steam is generated in the reboiler(s) by boiling the lean solvent taken from the bottom of the regenerator.
Either kettle-type or thermosyphon reboilers are used. The heat medium is normally saturated low-pressure
steam (3-4 barg (50-60 psig) at about 150-155C (300-310F)).
The overhead vapour from the regenerator, containing mostly H2S and steam, passes through an air or watercooled condenser. Water is condensed and separated from the gas in the reflux drum and pumped back to the
top of the regenerator as reflux. A small amount of sour water is purged from the system to avoid ammonia
build-up and/or to maintain water balance. The vapour is recycled back to the Claus unit front end as feed.
The hot regenerated lean solvent is pumped from the bottom sump of the regenerator through the lean/rich
exchangers and further cooled by a water or air-cooled solvent cooler before entering the top of the absorber.
In most cases, a lean solvent filter is located downstream of the lean solvent coolers to remove suspended
solids such as elemental sulphur and corrosion products from the system. In some cases, filters are located in
the rich solvent stream before the lean/rich exchangers.
The temperature at the regenerator bottom is normally between 120-130C (245-270F). This temperature is
normally not directly controlled. Rather, the heat to the reboilers (i.e. the amount of steam) is controlled based
on a preset ratio to the rich amine feed (e.g. 1.0). The bottoms temperature varies as a function of column top
pressure and amine strength. The column top pressure is governed by the rate of gas flow to the overhead
reflux drum feeding the Claus furnace and is typically in a range between 0.7-1.4 barg (10-20 psig).
Solvent, sour water, and open drain system sumps
Various drains of amine solvent are collected in the solvent sump. Collected amine solvent can then be pumped
back to the system.
Various drains of sour water are collected in the sour water sump. Unlike the solvent sump, feeds to the sour
water sump are continuous. Collected sour water can then be pumped to the sour water collection system.
The open drain system sump catches trace amounts of hydrocarbon from rotating equipment as well as any
storm water or spills that the sump pit pump discharges. The open drain system is a below grade system of
pipe in trench, routed to the open drain system sump, and then pumped to the sour water sump before being
pumped to the sour water collection system.
The sumps typically sit in a below grade concrete pit. Nitrogen purge, level indication, and vacuum truck
connections are typically provided. Gas or vapour is directed to the Incinerator via a flame arrestor.

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