Optimal Design of Acid Gas-to-Syngas (AG2S) Technology: Process Optimization and Surrogate Modeling

High Resolution Image Download MS PowerPoint Slide The management of acid gases (i.e., H 2 S and CO 2 ) is a fundamental requirement in process plants, such as refineries. Current strategies typically do not exploit the hydrogen content in hydrogen sulfide, which is usually burned. The acid gas-to-syngas (AG2S) technology represents an innovative approach for converting a mixture of hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S) and carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) into syngas (H 2 and CO), with potential applications in fuels and chemical synthesis. This work investigates the optimal process design of AG2S in terms of the H 2 S/CO 2 and H 2 S/O 2 feed molar ratios to maximize syngas production. The study combines detailed kinetic and thermodynamic modeling to obtain a comprehensive process simulation, which serves as the basis for generating accurate surrogate models trained on flowsheet simulation data via a design of experiments (DoE) approach. These models allow for a reliable prediction of H 2 S conversion, syngas flow rate, H 2 /CO ratio, and selectivity. The results highlight limitations imposed by relatively low H 2 /CO ratios for downstream applications and illustrate the trade-off between syngas quality and quantity.