Hi, I'm stupid, so when you answer, could you please answer in layman's terms? The chemical formulae mean practically nothing to me, and wikipedia and google already gave me a lot of those. x.x
So I'd like to ask about sulphur some, if I may? More specifically, its origins. I know it's an abundant, naturally present mineral, can be mined in its crystallized form, and recovered from industrial processes such as oil refinery. It can be used for anything from explosives to antibiotics, and exists in organic matter. But what I'm curious about is this, are the crystal sulphur, the recovered sulphur, and the sulphur present in foods like eggs and broccoli different kinds of sulphur? (I know it sounds like a dumb question, but wikipedia told me that sulphur can exist in various "allotropes" and I read the allotropy article but I still don't quite understand) Basic question is, are all the different forms of sulphur the same sulphur, and could they be made into the same elemental substance with some processing?
On a more practical level, can the sulphur present in something like eggs be extracted? Is the amount of sulphur present in eggs of a sufficient amount that it could viably be done as a science experiment? Please pardon my ignorance if these are absolutely ridiculous notions, I just don't know. But if it is possible...
Will rotten eggs possess higher levels or pureness of sulphur, or will the process of bacteria breaking the egg down allow for easier extraction of the element, if extraction is indeed a possibility? Would a process of letting eggs rot in water, then straining the water through cloth, and then distilling the sulphur be plausible? (I've read that water boils at a lower temperature than sulphur, so could it be possible to boil off the water without boiling off the sulphur? and would it be possible to do so without blowing anything up or burning anything down? For that matter how flammable IS it, and how hot does it burn?)
Or is there any way for a normal person without an industrial set up of the Claus process to refine or recover sulphur from other naturally occurring and easily obtainable products?
Also >.> can someone explain the Claus process to me in layman's terms? What I can understand from the wikipedia article is that the sour gas is mixed with oxygen and burnt at a certain temperature (>850C), which causes non sulphuric gasses to burn off and a purer form of sulphur gas to head to the condenser where it's cooled (to between 130C and 150C) and some of the sulphur becomes liquid and drops down, and then the catalytic stage I don't understand quite, the remaining gas get shunted from the condenser into a chamber where what happens? is another gas introduced, or are the hydrolyzing beds filled with another state of chemical (which wikipedia says is activated aluminum (III) or titanium (IV) oxide, is that a solid/powder?) which reacts to the gas in the air automatically? Or is something done to the oxides so that they mix with the sulphuric gas? Then does it get burnt again before returning to the condenser step? The diagram would indicate not but doesn't catalyzing the sulphuric gas taint it? Or what, specifically, is the point and purpose of the catalyst? What does it do for the gas?
Thank you for any answers.
(PS. not homework, just curiosity)
