Experimental studies of solubility of elemental sulphur in supercritical carbon dioxide

In recent years, more and more problems of elemental sulphur deposits in natural gas transmission line systems have been reported. Available experimental data on the solubility of sulphur in gases are in too high ranges of temperature, pressure and hydrogen sulphide amount compared to the transport conditions of natural gas. An original experimental apparatus, designed from the study of available works on this subject, is presented and allows the measurement of sulphur solubility. An equilibrium cell establishes the solid–gas equilibrium in conditions of natural gas transportation. To measure the amount of sulphur contained in a known volume of gas, a sample of saturated gas is withdrawn from the equilibrium cell by the way of a flash and pass through a trapping solution. Gaseous elemental sulphur is reactively absorbed into a trapping mixture. Gas chromatography (GC) allows an indirect quantification of sulphur. Experimental isotherm data of sulphur solubility in supercritical carbon dioxide are presented and compared to available studies.