Selective oxidation of hydrogen sulfide to ammonium thiosulfate and sulfur over vanadium-bismuth oxide catalysts

The selective oxidation of hydrogen sulfide containing excess water and ammonia was studied over vanadium-bismuth mixed oxide catalysts. The investigation was focused on understanding the complex reaction steps and the roles of each metal oxide. Therefore, supported V2O5/TiO2, V-Bi-O/TiO2 catalysts and a mechanical mixture of V2O5 + Bi2O3 were tested in the reaction. Ammonia reacted either with H2S or SO2, produced from the oxidation of H2S. Water vapor promoted the reaction of ammonia and SO2. Strong synergistic phenomena in catalytic activity were observed for the mechanically mixed catalyst of V2O5 and Bi2O3. V-Bi-O/TiO2 catalyst showed very high H2S conversion without any considerable emission of SO2. Temperature-programmed studies (TPR and TPO), XRD and Raman analyses revealed that the high catalytic performance of V-Bi-O-/TiO2 catalyst originated from the high redox capacity of the bismuth vanadate phase.