Quality of sulfur deposits collected from hydrogen sulfide combustion has been examined. Experimental conditions representing selected practical systems have been investigated. Combustion of hydrogen sulfide was allowed to occur under the different conditions with sulfur deposits collected for analysis. Experimental conditions represented effect of equivalence ratio of rich (Claus) conditions and stoichiometric conditions; effect of contaminants, other than H2S, in the acid gas stream; combustion of H2S with hydrocarbon fuels (methane and propane). Sulfur deposits from H2S combustion under various conditions were captured and analyzed using X-ray powder diffraction and laser induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) diagnostics. X-ray powder diffraction was used to determine the type of deposited sulfur allotrope, while LIBS was used to identify the elemental analysis of deposited sulfur. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.