Keywords: Sulfur, By-product, Sulfuric acid, Fertilizer industry.

Sulfur is an important raw material for the fertilizer industry. While in the past it was mined in the form of pyrites or elemental sulfur, today three-quarters of the world’s sulfur production comes from the gas and oil industry and non-ferrous smelters as by-product.

The chemical industry and power stations also produce some by-product sulfur but the quantities are very small and they are of minor importance. Some of the more established technologies to recover sulfur in the form of elemental sulfur, sulfuric acid, or gypsum are described. The product qualities achieved in these processes allow their use in the fertilizer industry. The supply of these by-products seems to be secure for the coming years. Infrastructure and plant concepts have to be adjusted to meet the needs of both the producers and the consumers in an optimal way.

H J König and P Lüdtke, Lurgi Metallurgie GmbH, Frankfurt/Main, Germany.

32 pages, 23 figures, 8 tables, 4 refs.