[SH2:1].[CH:2]1[C:15]2[C:14](=[O:16])[C:13]3[C:8](=[CH:9][CH:10]=[CH:11][CH:12]=3)[C:7](=[O:17])[C:6]=2[CH:5]=[CH:4][CH:3]=1.[S:18]>O>[SH2:1].[CH:9]1[C:8]2[C:7](=[O:17])[C:6]3[C:15](=[CH:2][CH:3]=[CH:4][CH:5]=3)[C:14](=[O:16])[C:13]=2[CH:12]=[CH:11][CH:10]=1.[S:18].[CH:11]1[CH:12]=[C:13]2[C:14]([OH:16])=[C:15]3[C:6](=[C:7]([OH:17])[C:8]2=[CH:9][CH:10]=1)[CH:5]=[CH:4][CH:3]=[CH:2]3In accordance with the present invention, a small quantity of water is added and dissolved into the reaction solution prior to or in the H2S reactor. As utilized throughout this specification, the term "water" encompasses fresh water, tap water, deionized water, water free of acidic components, etc. The amount of water added to the reaction solution is from about 0.5 to about 5.0 moles of water to moles of anthraquinone, more preferably from about 0.75 to about 2.0, and most preferably from about 1.0 to about 1.5. The addition of water to the reaction solution results in an unexpected increase in the recovery of sulfur formed during the conversion of hydrogen sulfide and anthraquinone to sulfur and anthrahydroquinone. While it is not exactly understood why the addition of water to the reaction solution increases the amount of sulfur which can be recovered from the reaction solution, it is believed that the addition of a small amount of water to the reaction solution likely limits the total solution solubility and water is selectively solubilized over sulfur, i.e. S8.
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