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Sulfanes: A new solution for sulphur disposal
Author(s) -
de Angelis Alberto,
Flego Cristina,
Parker Wallace O' Neil,
Pollesel Paolo
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
environmental progress and sustainable energy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.495
H-Index - 66
eISSN - 1944-7450
pISSN - 1944-7442
DOI - 10.1002/ep.10425
Subject(s) - sulfur , yield (engineering) , amine gas treating , catalysis , chemistry , fossil fuel , organic chemistry , materials science , metallurgy
Huge quantities of sulphur are yielded as by‐products in the oil and gas industry. Disposal raises a relevant environmental issue. Sulfanes, H 2 S n (n > 2), could be the ideal molecular form for sulphur disposal. They are up to 99% wt. made of sulphur and being liquid can be pumped into geological structures, even at room temperature. Since sulfanes can be synthesized only at low yield (<1%) by direct reaction between H 2 S and sulphur, we investigated a new amine‐catalyzed synthesis. Using aliphatic long‐chained amines as catalysts, it is possible to obtain sulfanes by direct H 2 S and sulphur reaction in almost quantitative yield. Structures of the sulfanes formed during this new reaction were studied by GC‐MS, LC‐MS and 1 H NMR, to investigate the nature of the complexes formed between amine and sulfane. © 2010 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 2010