Industry Outlook
Sulfur recovery technology market is expected to grow with a 9.0% CAGR during the forecast period from 2024 to 2032. In 2022, Asia Pacific led the sulfur recovery technology market and is estimated to be the fastest-growing region between 2024 and 2032.
Hydrogen sulfide (H2S) has its presence in a number of gaseous waste streams from oil refineries, natural gas plants, and wastewater treatment among other processes. These streams usually contain sulfur, water vapor, carbon dioxide, trace quantities of hydrocarbons, and ammonia. Waste gases with ammonia and sulfur are termed as sour gases, whereas those without the presence of ammonia are referred to as acid gases. These waste streams are used to recover sulfur just before flaring them. Sulfur recovery from sour or acid gas involves the application of the Claus Process using the reaction between hydrogen sulfide and sulfur dioxide (produced in the Claus Process furnace from the combustion of H2S with air and/or oxygen). This reaction yields elemental sulfur and water vapor. The conventional sulfur recovery process (Claus Thermal Stage and Claus Catalytic Stage) is based upon the extraction of sulfur by in-situ condensation within the Claus Reactor.
The laws pertaining to air pollution are stringent. Based on these laws lower grade fuel is required to be refined with minimum sulfur concentration. This is one of the prime factors which is expected to drive the global sulfur recovery technology market.
Some of the major advancements in the Claus Process to achieve up to 99.99% of sulfur recovery are: application of absorptive water separation process in the catalytic reactor stage, cold bed absorption (CBD) process applied at low temperatures (below sulfur dew point temperature) to achieve 97-99.5% sulfur recovery and the modified Claus Process with tail gas clean up unit (TGCU) used for very high sulfur recovery as per necessity. With these advancements, the overall sulfur recovery of up to 99.5 to 99.9% is possible.
"Claus Process Technology Segment dominated the sulfur recovery technology market"
The SRU’s are used to derive elemental sulfur from oil and gas refining. H₂S is combusted in the ‘Reaction Furnace’ to form SO₂. The H₂S and SO₂ then react at an approximate ratio of 2:1 (2 parts of H₂S and 1 part of SO₂) to form elemental Sulfur in the Claus Reactors. After each catalytic stage, liquid sulfur is recovered in various Claus Condensers. The remaining unreacted SO₂ and H₂S is then passed to the next stage, in which the equilibrium-limited Claus reaction basically continues with the presence of Claus catalyst. These tail gases are further processed to recover remaining sulfur by a process called as tail gas processing or tail gas incineration. Incineration is an oxidation process to convert SOx in to elemental sulfur. Trend shows that a two-bed catalytic claus plant can attain 94% to 96% efficiency. Range of recoveries varies from 96% to 97.5% for three-bed catalytic plant whereas range from 97% to 98.5% for a four-bed catalytic plant. At normal pressures and operating temperatures, the Claus reaction is basically thermodynamically limited to the range between 97% to 98% recovery. Tail gas from the Claus plant still contains 0.8% to 1.5% sulfur compounds. The Claus Process is the primary method of sulfur recovery. Before the Paris Agreement on Climate Change which concluded in December 2015, most of the refineries globally had infrastructure with single stage Claus plant for sulfur recovery. This is capable of recovering up to 92% of sulfur depending on the internal processes involved. With stricter environmental regulations now in place, there is a requirement of single stage Claus plants to expand into corresponding multi-stage plants. All this capacity expansion is to achieve 99.5-99.90% of sulfur recovery from the feed stream.
"Oil and Gas Identified as the Dominant Source of Recovery Segment in 2022"
Sulfur is mainly recovered from crude oil and natural gas processing. Sulfur recovery from oil & gas market is witnessing the upward swing as it is the largest source of sulfur and is expected to maintain its dominance throughout the forecast period. With an objective to minimize sulfur concentrations in various refined products, sulfur is basically recovered during refining operations with the help of various technologies. Low concentrations of sulfur that finds application in fuel gases are compulsory to comply with emission standards for process boilers, heaters, and flue gases. Environmental pressure for reducing the sulfur emission is also contributing to the market growth of sulfur recovery technology in oil & gas industry. For instance, to meet U.S. environmental standards for sulfur emission, 99.8% of sulfur must be recovered from natural gas processing. Claus Process and tail gas treating processes are the most preferred process to achieve the aforementioned recovery levels.
"‘Up to 100 t/d’ (tons per day) Expected to be the Largest Capacity Segment in 2017"
The SRU’s in the refineries have sulfur recovery/removal capacity of 5 t/d to 60 t/d. These refineries are equipped with single stage Claus Process for recovery/removal of sulfur from the feed stream. ‘Up to 100 t/d’ recovery of sulfur falls under this segment. The smaller capacity sulfur recovery plants generally require additional space for accommodation of separate plants to meet the existing mandate of nearly 99.90% sulfur free output. These plants may incur a lot of interruptions in the existing facility and least interruption in sulfur recovery process is what is desired in sulfur recovery plants
"Asia Pacific is the Largest Region in the Global sulfur recovery technology market"
Asia Pacific is the most attractive market because of healthy growth rate and increasing environmental concerns and government regulations in the region. High growth potential for the development of sulfur recovery technology is observed in economies such as India, China, Malaysia, South Korea and Indonesia. China and India are the largest markets for sulfur recovery technology in the Asia Pacific region, collectively contributing more than half of the regional demand. In 2017, China alone accounted for major market share of the regional demand of sulfur recovery technology market. In 2016, the average gravity of crude oil processed in the region is projected to decrease from 35.9 °API (The American Petroleum Institute gravity) to 35.4 °API in 2035 and corresponding sulfur content will increase from 1.02 wt% to 1.40 wt% in 2035. North America was the second largest market for sulfur recovery technology in 2017 and is expected to maintain its position throughout the forecast period. Increasing concern about the sulfur content in processed fuels and natural gas is leading to tighter regulation and more stringent standards for sulfur emission from processing facilities in North America. The presence of large multinationals is making sulfur recovery systems more accessible to the end-users. Moreover, the launch of new technologies and systems with higher percentage of recovery is stimulating the market growth.
"Mergers and Acquisitions are the Key Strategies Adopted by the manufacturers"
Key players operating in the global sulfur recovery technology market includes Jacobs Engineering Group Inc., The Linde Group, EXXON MOBIL CORPORATION, Royal Dutch Shell Plc, John Wood Group Plc., Amec Foster Wheeler, Black & Veatch Holding Company, Chiyoda Corporation, Fluor Corporation, GTC Technology US, LLC, CHICAGO BRIDGE & IRON COMPANY N.V., BASF SE, Praxair, Inc, Phoenix Equipment Corporation and Ohter Notable Players.
Historical & Forecast Period
This study report represents analysis of each segment from 2022 to 2032 considering 2023 as the base year. Compounded Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) for each of the respective segments estimated for the forecast period of 2024 to 2032.
The current report comprises of quantitative market estimations for each micro market for every geographical region and qualitative market analysis such as micro and macro environment analysis, market trends, competitive intelligence, segment analysis, porters five force model, top winning strategies, top investment markets, emerging trends and technological analysis, case studies, strategic conclusions and recommendations and other key market insights.
Research Methodology
The complete research study was conducted in three phases, namely: secondary research, primary research, and expert panel review. key data point that enables the estimation of Sulfur Recovery Technology market are as follows:
Market forecast was performed through proprietary software that analyzes various qualitative and quantitative factors. Growth rate and CAGR were estimated through intensive secondary and primary research. Data triangulation across various data points provides accuracy across various analyzed market segments in the report. Application of both top down and bottom-up approach for validation of market estimation assures logical, methodical and mathematical consistency of the quantitative data.
| ATTRIBUTE | DETAILS |
|---|---|
| Research Period | 2022-2032 |
| Base Year | 2023 |
| Forecast Period | 2024-2032 |
| Historical Year | 2022 |
| Unit | USD Million |
| Segmentation | |
Technology
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Source Of Recovery
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Capacity
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Region Segment (2022-2032; US$ Million)
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Key questions answered in this report
