Production of elemental sulfur and ammonium thiosulfate by the oxidation of H2S containing water vapor and ammonia over V/Zr-PILC catalysts

The catalytic oxidation of hydrogen sulfide in the presence of water and ammonia was studied over V2O5 supported on Zr-pillared clay catalysts (V/Zr-PILCs). The synthesized catalysts were examined using a variety of characterization techniques. A catalytic performance study using V/Zr-PILC catalysts showed that H2S was successfully converted to elemental sulfur and ammonium thiosulfate (ATS) without considerable emission of sulfur dioxide. The H2S conversion over V/Zr-PILCs increased with increasing the content of vanadia up to 6 wt.%. This superior catalytic performance might be related to the uniform dispersion of vanadia species on the Zr-PILC support.