Investigation of the effect of H2S on the performance of an iron/chromium-based high-temperature water-gas shift catalyst using simulated coal-derived syngas

The effects of H2S concentrations on the performance of an iron/chromium-based high-temperature water-gas shift catalyst were investigated using simulated dry-feed coal-derived syngas. The experiments were performed in a differential reactor at a constant temperature of 450 degrees C and at approximately atmospheric pressure. Low concentrations of H2S in the syngas (<50 ppm) were found to have a minor effect on the water-gas shift activity of the catalyst. At a higher range of H2S concentration (168-250 ppm), the catalyst lost approximately half of its activity. The reaction orders with respect to H2S concentration in the feed gas were calculated to be -0.24 +/- 0.09 for a lower range of H2S concentration (17-70 ppm) and -0.55 +/- 0.05 for a higher range of H2S concentration (120-1100 ppm). Crown Copyright (C) 2008 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.