Sulfur Recovery Units (SRU) Design and Operation

The SRU Design and Operation Training Course gives process, operations, and engineering professionals a comprehensive, technically rigorous understanding of Sulfur Recovery Unit design, process chemistry, operational management, tail gas treatment, troubleshooting, and optimisation — grounded in the Claus process and the real-world challenges of gas processing and refining environments.

Sulfur Recovery Units are critical process assets in natural gas processing, refining, and petrochemical operations. Their performance directly determines sulfur recovery efficiency, SO₂ emissions compliance, environmental regulatory status, and overall plant profitability. Operating and managing SRUs effectively requires a depth of technical knowledge that spans reaction chemistry, process design, control systems, and safety management.

This course addresses that knowledge directly — covering the full SRU lifecycle from acid gas feed preparation and thermal reactor design through catalytic stages, tail gas treatment, SCOT process, emissions control, and operational troubleshooting, to recovery optimisation, energy management, and H₂S safety. Every module is grounded in the specific technical realities of sulfur plant operations.

The SRU Design and Operation Training is built for professionals who are accountable for SRU performance and want the technical depth to design, operate, troubleshoot, and optimise these critical units with confidence and precision.

The SRU Design and Operation Training Course is designed to develop comprehensive technical capability across SRU design, process chemistry, operational management, tail gas treatment, emissions control, troubleshooting, and performance optimisation — all within the context of gas processing and refining operations.

By the end of this course, participants will be able to:

• Explain the role of SRUs in gas processing and refining and identify the sulfur compounds present in natural gas and refinery gas streams
• Describe the fundamentals of the Claus process — including thermal and catalytic stages, stoichiometry, and reaction chemistry
• Evaluate acid gas composition, prepare feed for SRU processing, and explain thermal reactor design and reaction furnace operation
• Identify and explain the function of waste heat boilers, sulfur condensers, reheaters, and catalytic reactors in the SRU process
• Apply knowledge of tail gas treatment units including the SCOT process, hydrogenation reactors, and amine absorbers
• Evaluate SO₂ emission control strategies and assess compliance with environmental regulations and recovery efficiency requirements
• Manage safety considerations in H₂S-rich environments and apply lessons learned from operational improvement and incident case studies

The SRU Design and Operation Training is designed for process, operations, engineering, and maintenance professionals who work with Sulfur Recovery Units in gas processing, refining, or petrochemical environments and who need the technical depth to manage SRU performance, compliance, and reliability effectively.

This course is suitable for:

• Process engineers responsible for SRU design, performance monitoring, and process optimisation
• Operations engineers and supervisors managing day-to-day SRU operation, start-up, and shutdown
• Maintenance engineers responsible for SRU equipment reliability and management of sulfur plugging, corrosion, and catalyst deactivation
• Environmental and compliance professionals managing SO₂ emissions reporting and regulatory compliance
• Instrumentation and control engineers working with SRU process monitoring and control systems
• Technical professionals involved in SRU design, revamp, or capacity improvement projects
• HSE professionals responsible for H₂S safety management in sulfur plant environments
• Graduate process and chemical engineers building a structured technical foundation in sulfur recovery operations

The SRU Design and Operation Training Course is delivered through a technically structured, progressively building learning approach that moves from Claus process fundamentals and SRU design through tail gas treatment, operational management, troubleshooting, and performance optimisation. Each day addresses a distinct technical domain building a complete and integrated understanding of the full SRU operational lifecycle.

Real-world case studies, operational troubleshooting scenarios, and process chemistry application exercises are integrated throughout ensuring delegates connect technical frameworks to the practical challenges they face in sulfur plant environments.

Delivery methods include:

• Instructor-led sessions covering Claus process chemistry, SRU design principles, tail gas treatment, and emissions control frameworks
• Process chemistry and stoichiometry workshops applying reaction chemistry and mass balance principles to SRU design and operation
• SRU component design sessions examining thermal reactors, waste heat boilers, sulfur condensers, reheaters, and catalytic reactor operation
• Tail gas treatment workshops covering SCOT process, hydrogenation reactors, amine absorbers, and SO₂ recovery efficiency evaluation
• Environmental compliance sessions examining regulatory requirements and emission control strategies for sulfur plants

• AZTech Certificate of Completion for delegates who attend and complete the training course