Disposal and End Use of Sulfur Glenn Beatty, Marcus Cole, Chris Descalzi & Daniel Venooker Marcus

Sources of Sulfur Sulfur is found naturally in all sorts of fossil fuels, generally around 1% by weight, in the form of H2S. 83% of energy annually consumed in the US comes from fossil fuels: 6.87 billion barrels of crude oil 889.2 million shorts tons of coal 25.5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas Glenn

Excessive Sulfur Combustion of hydrogen sulfide leads to SO2, a harmful acid rain producing pollutant. There are restrictions on the sulfur content of various fuels (Clean Air Act) Crude oil contains as high as 1.2 wt% sulfur naturally, much higher than the few ppm allowed (depending on type of fuel) Chris

Common End Uses of Sulfur Disposal → well reinjection Sulfuric Acid Fertilizer Other Agricultural Chemicals Ore Leaching Petroleum Industry Dan

Recovered Sulfur 86% of recovered sulfur production came from petroleum refineries or satellite plants that treated refinery gases and coking plants; 14% at natural gas treatment plants (2011) 9.05 million tons of sulfur were produced in the U.S. in 2012, valued at $1.3 billion dollars. Generally consumed into one of two forms: Elemental sulfur (S) - 9% total consumption Sulfuric Acid (H2SO4) - 90% total consumption Marcus

Uses of Sulfuric Acid Typical production method: Combustion: H2S + 1.5 O2 = H2O + SO2 + 518 kJ/mole Oxidation: SO2 + ½O2 = SO3 + 99 kJ/mole (in the presence of a vanadium (V) oxide catalyst) Hydration: SO3 + H2O = H2SO4 (g) + 101 kJ/mole Condensation: H2SO4 (g) = H2SO4 (l) + 90 kJ/mole Most universally used mineral acid and most produced/consumed inorganic chemical (by volume) Vital to every sector of world’s chemical industry Glenn

Chemical Industry Oil Refining: Sulfuric acid has become quite abundant, and can be used to produce other desirable chemicals: Hydrochloric acid Nitric acid Sulfate salts Rayon Synthetic detergents Dyes and pigments Oil Refining: Sulfuric acid is washes impurities out of gasoline and other refinery products. Metal Processing: Sulfuric acid is used in pickling (cleaning) iron and steel before plating them with tin or zinc. Dan (This slide needs a picture)

Car Batteries Sulfuric acid is found in lead acid batteries, serving as the electrolyte for electron transfer. The aqueous solution used contains about 33% H2SO4, and is commonly called battery acid. When the battery runs, SA reacts with the lead plates making lead sulfate, this is reversed when recharged. Marcus

Ore Leaching Leaching Process Dilute Sulfuric Acid is used to dissolve metals out of Ores Gold Copper Nickel Uranium Iron Usually only done in low-grade ore 60-70% recovery Takes months/years Chri

Additional Uses of H2SO4 Ammonium sulfate production → Fertilizer for alkaline soils Herbicide Manufacture of aluminum sulfate → paper industry Carbon disulfide → Insecticide for fumigation of grains and nursery stock A primary component of some chemotherapy drugs US Chemical Diversion and Trafficking Act lists sulfuric acid as among the most essential or precursor chemicals Glenn

Uses of Elemental Sulfur Other Popular uses: Fungicide Pesticide Vulcanization of rubber Matches Fireworks Black powder Used to be produced from salt mines using the Frasch process: Superheated water melts and extracts sulfur from deposits No longer cost effective Typical production method: Claus Process- 2 H2S + 3 O2 → 2 SO2 + 2 H2O 2 H2S + SO2 → 3 S + 2 H2O Net: 2 H2S + O2 → S2 + 2 H2O Major use in fertilizer Chris

Sulfur in Fertilizer Finely ground elemental sulfur is highly mobile in soil Allows quick natural oxidation in soil Sulfur is required by plants at 1:20 ratio with nitrogen Usually mixed in equal measure with phosphorus Dan

Disposal of Sulfur: Well Reinjection Hydrogen Sulfide is commonly re-injected into underground wells Benefits Comparatively Low Cost Reliable No additional process streams required Drawbacks Need land for reservoir Potential contamination and corrosion of metals H2S has potential combustible energy Dan

Final Thoughts

Works Referenced This slide needs work http://www.soil.ncsu.edu/publications/Soilfacts/AG-439-15_Archived/AG-439-15.pdf http://www.georgiagulfsulfur.com/products_ag.htm http://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.cfm?id=33&t=6 http://www.enggcyclopedia.com/2011/01/sulfur-content/ http://www.nesteoil.com/default.asp?path=1,41,537,5196,5199 http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/sulfur/mcs-2013-sulfu.pdf http://www.buzzle.com/articles/sulfuric-acid-uses.html www.nytimes.com www.mccombs.utexas.edu teeic.anl.gov infohouse.p2ric.org www.globalwarmingart.com - www.propertiesofmatter.si.edu crossmap.christianpost.com www.geoterm-vacratot.hu This slide needs work