Patents Assigned to El Paso Merchant Energy Petroleum Company
  • Patent number: 6534030
    Abstract: A process for producing ammonium thiosulfate by contacting a feed gas containing hydrogen sulfide and ammonia with an aqueous absorbing stream containing ammonium sulfite and ammonium bisulfite to form an ammonium thiosulfate-containing solution; the absorption being controlled by monitoring the oxidation reduction potential of the absorbing stream and varying the feed rates in response to the oxidation reduction potential measurements. An ammonium bisulfide-containing aqueous stream is contacted with and absorbs sulfur dioxide to form an aqueous stream containing the ammonium sulfite and ammonium bisulfite reagents. This sulfite/bisulfite-containing stream is combined with the ammonium thiosulfate-containing solution in a vessel to produce a combined solution. A portion of the combined solution is recycled back to contact the feed gas and ammonium thiosulfate is recovered from the remaining portion of the combined solution.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 14, 2001
    Date of Patent: March 18, 2003
    Assignee: El Paso Merchant Energy Petroleum Company
    Inventors: Mark C. Anderson, Sidney P. White, Ronald E. Shafer