Technologies for the abatement of sulphide compounds from gaseous streams: a comparative overview

The techniques that may be applied to the removal of sulphide compounds from gases are briefly described and discussed. Scrubbing and adsorption on solids allow the recovery of sulphur either as such (H2S or sulphide organics) or, after oxidation, as elemental sulphur or SO2. This is actually a good choice when the concentration is high enough for sulphur recovery. When sulphur concentration is very low, techniques such as thermal and catalytic combustion, oxidative scrubbing and biofiltration might be preferable to attain deodorization. However, combustion converts sulphur into SO2, while oxidative scrubbing gives rise to sulphate-containing solutions. Biofiltration mineralizes sulphur in a natural environmental friendly way, without producing secondary contaminants. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.