LANTEC
Visit us on the World Wide Web!
http://www.lantecp.com
H2S (Hydrogen Sulfide – Sewer Gas) Odor Control
Wet Scrubber Design and Chemical Consumption Using Q-PAC®
Background
Sewer gas, chemical name hydrogen sulfide, H2S, is a common source of odor complaints around
waste water treatment plants. At low concentrations of 10 ~ 50 ppmv it is source of ‘rotten egg’
odors associated with treatment plants. It has a very low odor threshhold of 0.3 ppmv. Hydrogen
sulfide is also dangerous, at 100 ppmv loss of eyesight will occur and at 300 ppmv the gas is at
lethal concentration. And in addition to being a nusciance at low concentrations and dangerous at
higher concentration, exposure to H2S between 50 – 100 ppmv can not be detected by smell as at
this concentration level it causes one’s olfactory organs in the nose to fail.
H2S Control – Traditional Wet Scrubbing using Chemicals
The most common method of control of H2S gas is to pass the smelly gas through a vertical,
packed bed wet scrubber. The air passes up the tower as the scrubbing liquid containing caustic
(NaOH) and oxidizing agent (most often bleach or NaOCl, sodium hypochlorite) flows down the
tower in counter-current fashion. The high pH provided by the caustic drives the mass transfer
from gas to liquid phase by solubolizing H2S as HS- bisulfide and S-2 sulfide ions. Once in
solution, the reaction between hydrogen sulfide and oxidzing agent is almost instantaneous
(assuming sufficient oxidizing agent is present). This reaction converts the sulfide to sulfate (SO4-
2
) ion. The overall chemical reaction is described by the following equation:
H2S + 4NaOCl + 2NaOH Æ Na2SO4 + 4NaCl + 2H2O
Therefore, theoretically, for each molecule of H2S destroyed, four
molecules of bleach and two molecules of caustic are consumed.
However, the chemistry is not quite so simple, as partial oxidation of
H2S also takes place which forms elemental sulfur:
H2S + NaOCl Æ NaCl + H2O + S↓
This reaction represents about 1% of the chemistry present in a wet
scrubber. The presence of excess bleach helps to minimize the Two stage H2S odor control
formation of elmental sulfur. But bleach is an expensive chemical. scrubbing system.
The use of two stage scrubbing is often employed both to minimize
chemcial consumption as well as to control sulfur deposits when scrubbing H2S. The first stage
operates at~ 80% efficiency and uses a caustic only scrub at high pH (~ 12.5). The air then passes
to the second stage, where the remaining H2S is scrubbed with caustic / bleach solution at pH ~
9.5. The H2S present is destroyed at 99%+ efficiency. The blowdown from the 2nd stage, which
will contain some amount of unsued NaOCl, is sent to the sump of the 1st stage. In this way
additional H2S is destroyed and maximum consumption of expensive oxidizing agent is assured.
Never the less, there are losses of chemicals which can not be prevented, which of course raise
the cost of odor control scrubbing. These losses are due to the facts that bleach, NaOCl, slowly
decomposes in storage as well as the fact that some amount of caustic is constantly lost to CO2
absorption in both scrubbing stages.
[email protected]
LANTEC
Visit us on the World Wide Web!
http://www.lantecp.com
Q-PAC for H2S Odor Control Scrubbers
Introduced to the industry in 1996, Q-PAC offers a number of
advantages when designing an odor control wet scrubbing system:
Very Low Pressure Drop = Low Operational Expense
Very High Efficiency = Effective Odor Control
High Design Velocity = Reduced Chemical Losses
High Void Fraction, All Rounded Design = Resistance to Fouling
Self Cleaning Design = Reduced Maintenance, Long ServiceLife
Design Example – 50,000 cfm, 99%+ Efficiency
Typical Two Stage Odor Control System Using Q-PAC
Air Flow = 50,000 cfm
Temperature = 80 ºF Q-PAC®
H2S Inlet Concentration = 35 ppmv US Patent #5,458,817
CO2 Concentration = ambient 370 ppmv
Tower Diameters = 10 ft
Superficial Gas Velocity = 637 fpm
First Stage
~ 90% H2S Efficiency
Packing = 6 ft Q-PAC
Liquid Flow = 300 gpm
Sump pH ~ 12.5
Q-PAC Pressure Drop = 1.1 in W.C.
Caustic Strenght = 50%
Theroretical Caustic Consumption = 15.4 gal/hr
Second Stage
99%+ H2S Efficiency
Packing = 10 ft Q-PAC®
Liquid Flow = 300 gpm
Sump pH ~ 9.5 Q-PAC®
Oxidative / Reduction Potential ~ 600 mV Random Dumped Into Odor Control Scrubber
Q-PAC Pressure Drop = 1.9 in W.C.
Caustic Strength = 50%
Theroretical Caustic Consumption = 9.1 gal/hr
Bleach Strength = 12.5%
Theoretical Bleach Consumption = 2.1 gal/hr
Note:
This discussion is for general informational purposes only. No warranty is implied or granted with this
design example. Please contact Lantec Products to review the design needs of your specific project. All
packing supplied to a given project is sold with a performance warranty when the design for that project
was supplied by Lantec Products.
[email protected]
