99/02026 Sulfur dioxide removal by enhanced electrostatics: Larkin, K. et al. Proc., Annu. Meet. Air Waste Manage. Assoc., 1997, 90, TP30B02, 1–14

Abstract

The economic removal of sulfur dioxide (SO{sub 2}) still represents a significant technical challenge which could determine the use of certain types of fossil fuels for energy production. This paper will present the preliminary results of an innovative research project utilizing a low-cost wet electrostatic precipitator to remove sulfur dioxide. There are many aspects for gas removal in an electrostatic precipitator which are not currently being used. This project utilizes electron attachment of free electrons onto gas molecules and ozone generation to remove sulfur dioxide which is a typical flue gas pollutant. This research was conducted on a bench-scale, wet electrostatic precipitator. A direct-current negative discharge corona is used to generate the ozone in-situ. This ozone will be used to oxidize SO{sub 2} to form sulfuric acid, which is very soluble in water. However, it is believed that the primary removal mechanism is electron attachment of the free electrons from the corona which force the SO{sub 2} to go to equilibrium with the water and be removed from the gas stream. Forcing the equilibrium has been shown to achieve removal efficiencies of up to 70%. The bench scale unit has been designed to operate wet or dry, positive and negativemore » for comparison purposes. The applied dc voltage is variable from 0 to 100 kV, the flow rate is a nominal 7 m{sup 3}/hr and the collecting electrode area is 0.20 m{sup 2}. Tests are conducted on a simulated flue gas stream with SO{sub 2} ranging from 0 to 4,000 ppmv. This paper presents the results of tests conducted to determine the effect of operating conditions on removal efficiency. The removal efficiency was found to vary with gas residence time, water flow rate, inlet concentration, applied power, and the use of corona pulsing.« less