A review on sensitivity of operating parameters on biogas catalysts for selective oxidation of Hydrogen Sulfide to elemental sulfur

Hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) is a critical problem for biogas applications, such as electricity and heat generation, or the production of different chemical compounds, due to corrosion and toxic effluent gases. The selective catalytic oxidation of H₂S to S is the most promising way to eliminate H₂S from biogas due to the lack of effluents, therefore can be considered a green technology. The most extensively used catalysts for H₂S selective oxidation can be classified in two groups: metal oxide-based catalysts, including vanadium and iron oxides, and carbon-based catalysts. Numerous studies have been devoted to studying their different catalytic performances. For industrial applications, the most suitable catalysts should be less sensitive to the operating parameters like the temperature, O₂/H₂S ratio, and H₂O content. More specifically, for metal oxides and carbon-based catalysts, the temperature and O₂/H₂S ratio have a similar effect on the conversion and selectivity, but carbon-based catalysts are less sensitive to water in all operating conditions.