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How is hydrogen sulfide removed from the hydrogen stream after hydrotreating?
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petroleum refining
Aerial view of an oil refinery near New Orleans.
In the petroleum refining process known as hydrotreating, sulfur impurities are converted into hydrogen sulfide gas. To remove this byproduct from the circulating hydrogen stream, the gas is passed through an absorption solution, typically consisting of diethanolamine.1
Once the hydrogen sulfide has been absorbed, the diethanolamine solution is heated to release the sulfide, allowing the solution to be recycled and reused in the process. The recovered hydrogen sulfide is then utilized in the production of high-purity elemental sulfur.1