Screening of H2S Abatement Options for Geothermal Power Noncondensable Gas at Bjarnarflag

Abstract

Non-condensable gas H2S abatement technologies were screened – based on capital and operating costs and some other factors – for implementation at new geothermal power production locations at Bjarnarflag, Iceland. Many technologies exist for removing H2S from gases, but initial screening efforts resulted in narrowing down the available technologies to four likely to be most suitable – water absorption and injection, the modified Claus process, liquid redox sulfur recovery processes, and a burn/scrub process. These four technologies were subject to economic analysis in order to help determine the best technology for Bjarnarflag. This paper presents the results of the evaluation. The analysis showed that water absorption had significantly superior economics for this application; water absorption is, however, associated with the greatest number of unknowns. The potential economic advantage of the water absorption process was considered significant enough to merit recommending further development of the technology.