The sour water stripper is the core equipment for removing hydrogen sulphide and ammonia from refinery and gas-processing sour water. A steam-driven stripping column transfers the dissolved gases to an overhead acid-gas stream for sulphur recovery, returning stripped water clean enough for reuse or further treatment.
Safe, specification-driven sour-water treatment
A packed or trayed column gives the vapour–liquid contact that transfers H₂S and NH₃ from the descending water into the rising stripping steam.
Live steam or a reboiler supplies the heat and stripping vapour; the steam-to-feed ratio is the main lever on how far the gases are driven out.
The H₂S-rich overhead is condensed and routed to the sulphur-recovery unit or thermal oxidiser — recovering sulphur and keeping the gas contained.
Sour service is aggressive; wetted materials, overhead metallurgy and corrosion allowances are specified for wet H₂S and ammonium bisulphide attack.
Stripper performance is governed by the stripping factor, S = (H·V)/L — the ratio of the gas’s volatility (Henry coefficient H) and the vapour-to-liquid flow ratio (V/L) to the liquid load. A stripping factor comfortably above one means the gas is driven into the vapour and removed; below one it stays in the water. For H₂S the high volatility makes this straightforward; ammonia is harder and pH-sensitive, which is why a single- or two-stage column is selected on the actual sour-water composition. The steam ratio, number of stages and operating pressure are then set to hit both the stripped-water specification and the overhead acid-gas quality the sulphur-recovery unit needs.
A related page in the sour-water and refinery treatment train.
Read MoreA related page in the sour-water and refinery treatment train.
Read MoreA related page in the sour-water and refinery treatment train.
Read MoreA related page in the sour-water and refinery treatment train.
Read MoreReynolds & Bauhm designs sour-water stripping, H₂S removal and ammonia treatment as a safe, enclosed, ATEX-rated system — sized to your stream and your discharge or sulphur-recovery targets.
Our expertise spans multiple industries with sector-specific water treatment solutions.