A process for adsorbing hydrocarbons from an acid gas stream includes
passing the acid gas stream through an adsorbent which selectively removes
hydrocarbons, desorbing the hydrocarbons from the adsorbent and contacting
the desorbed hydrocarbons with an acid gas removal solution to remove acid
gases which have been coadsorbed with the hydrocarbons. The process is
particularly useful in removing hydrocarbons from a hydrogen
sulfide-containing stream which is being directed to Claus processing for
conversion into elemental sulfur. Useful adsorbents include crystalline
titanium silicate molecular sieves containing titania octahedral sites
such as ETS-10 and similar materials, as well as high silica
aluminosilicate zeolite.