Acid gas combustion in the inverse diffusion flame for increasing flame temperature under low-level oxygen enrichment conditions

doi:10.1016/j.cjche.2025.06.033

中国化学工程学报 ›› 2025, Vol. 88 ›› Issue (12): 75-84.DOI: 10.1016/j.cjche.2025.06.033

Acid gas combustion in the inverse diffusion flame for increasing flame temperature under low-level oxygen enrichment conditions

Xun Tao¹, Yifan Zhang¹, Fan Zhou¹, Songling Guo¹, Yunfei Gao¹, Lu Ding¹, Xuezhi Duan², Zhenghua Dai¹, Guangsuo Yu¹, Fuchen Wang¹

1. Engineering Research Center of Resource Utilization of Carbon-containing Waste with Carbon Neutrality, Ministry of Education, Shanghai 200237, China;
2. State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China

收稿日期:2025-03-24 修回日期:2025-05-21 接受日期:2025-06-11 出版日期:2026-02-09 发布日期:2025-09-15
通讯作者: Fuchen Wang,E-mail:wfch@ecust.edu.cn
基金资助:
The project was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (22178114, U23A20131), and the social development science and technology tackling project of 2021 “Scientific and Innovative Action Plan of Shanghai” (21DZ1209000).

Acid gas combustion in the inverse diffusion flame for increasing flame temperature under low-level oxygen enrichment conditions

Xun Tao¹, Yifan Zhang¹, Fan Zhou¹, Songling Guo¹, Yunfei Gao¹, Lu Ding¹, Xuezhi Duan², Zhenghua Dai¹, Guangsuo Yu¹, Fuchen Wang¹

1. Engineering Research Center of Resource Utilization of Carbon-containing Waste with Carbon Neutrality, Ministry of Education, Shanghai 200237, China;
2. State Key Laboratory of Chemical Engineering, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai 200237, China

Received:2025-03-24 Revised:2025-05-21 Accepted:2025-06-11 Online:2026-02-09 Published:2025-09-15
Contact: Fuchen Wang,E-mail:wfch@ecust.edu.cn
Supported by:
The project was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (22178114, U23A20131), and the social development science and technology tackling project of 2021 “Scientific and Innovative Action Plan of Shanghai” (21DZ1209000).

摘要/Abstract

摘要： Normal diffusion flame (NDF) of acid gas with a H₂S concentration below 50.0% (vol) generally exhibits a low flame temperature in a low-level oxygen enrichment atmosphere under Claus conditions, resulting in flame instability. This research proposed that inverse diffusion flame (IDF) was applied to acid gas combustion for enhancing flame temperature. IDF of acid gas was compared with fuel gas co-combustion (FGC), split flow of acid gas (SFAG) and high-level oxygen enrichment combustion (OEC). Additionally, the effect of CO₂ addition on the IDF of H₂S was investigated. The results indicated that a stable flame could be observed in the IDF of acid gas, its peak flame temperature was about 801.0 K, which was higher than that in the OEC, FGC and SFAG with a value of about 591.0, 684.0 and 734.0 K, respectively. IDF of acid gas was contributed to the formation of sulfur and H₂, and mainly involved the oxidation zone and the chemical decomposition and oxidation zone in sequence. In the IDF, CO₂ exhibited a better oxidation performance, and the peak flame temperature was decreased by about 21.0 K with an increase in CO₂ addition from 50.8% to 59.5% (vol), whereas significantly enhanced the oxidation reaction rate of H₂S, and the peak volume fraction of SO₂ was increased from 5.812% to 7.075%. The application of IDF to acid gas combustion achieved the objective for improving flame temperature in low-level oxygen enrichment atmosphere under Claus conditions, providing a new perspective in the sulfur recovery and hydrogen production from acid gas.

关键词: Acid gas, Carbon dioxide, Inverse diffusion flame, Low-level oxygen enrichment, Oxidation, Hydrogen

Abstract: Normal diffusion flame (NDF) of acid gas with a H₂S concentration below 50.0% (vol) generally exhibits a low flame temperature in a low-level oxygen enrichment atmosphere under Claus conditions, resulting in flame instability. This research proposed that inverse diffusion flame (IDF) was applied to acid gas combustion for enhancing flame temperature. IDF of acid gas was compared with fuel gas co-combustion (FGC), split flow of acid gas (SFAG) and high-level oxygen enrichment combustion (OEC). Additionally, the effect of CO₂ addition on the IDF of H₂S was investigated. The results indicated that a stable flame could be observed in the IDF of acid gas, its peak flame temperature was about 801.0 K, which was higher than that in the OEC, FGC and SFAG with a value of about 591.0, 684.0 and 734.0 K, respectively. IDF of acid gas was contributed to the formation of sulfur and H₂, and mainly involved the oxidation zone and the chemical decomposition and oxidation zone in sequence. In the IDF, CO₂ exhibited a better oxidation performance, and the peak flame temperature was decreased by about 21.0 K with an increase in CO₂ addition from 50.8% to 59.5% (vol), whereas significantly enhanced the oxidation reaction rate of H₂S, and the peak volume fraction of SO₂ was increased from 5.812% to 7.075%. The application of IDF to acid gas combustion achieved the objective for improving flame temperature in low-level oxygen enrichment atmosphere under Claus conditions, providing a new perspective in the sulfur recovery and hydrogen production from acid gas.

Key words: Acid gas, Carbon dioxide, Inverse diffusion flame, Low-level oxygen enrichment, Oxidation, Hydrogen

Xun Tao, Yifan Zhang, Fan Zhou, Songling Guo, Yunfei Gao, Lu Ding, Xuezhi Duan, Zhenghua Dai, Guangsuo Yu, Fuchen Wang. Acid gas combustion in the inverse diffusion flame for increasing flame temperature under low-level oxygen enrichment conditions[J]. 中国化学工程学报, 2025, 88(12): 75-84.

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Acid gas combustion in the inverse diffusion flame for increasing flame temperature under low-level oxygen enrichment conditions

Acid gas combustion in the inverse diffusion flame for increasing flame temperature under low-level oxygen enrichment conditions

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