A mathematical model for simulation of the dynamic behavior of the Tyco process for SO 2 and NO x removal

Abstract

In the United States, fossil fuel burning plants emit approximately 20 million tons of SO 2 each year, as well as large amounts of NO and NO 2. Presently, no method is available which efficiently removes SO 2, NO and NO 2 at a low operating and capital cost. The Tyco Corporation has developed a new process for the removal of these pollutants from stack gases. The steady state operation of the reactor itself has been studied in Tyco in a laboratory pilot unit. It was the purpose of this study to utilize the available experimental data plus what is known about the lead chamber process to formulate a dynamic model of the reactor. The performance of the mathematical model plus controllers were then studied using the IBM System/360 Model 50 computer. The dynamic simulation of the Tyco reactor has shown it to be very efficient in gaseous pollutant removal. In particular in excess of 90 per cent of the SO 2 in the stack gas and almost 100 per cent of the NO and NO 2 were removed when the process was subjected to 100 per cent step changes in stack gas flow rate, SO 2 concentration, and NO 2 concentration. The return to steady state occurred within 20 s after the step change, and the dynamic SO 2 removal efficiency was always greater than 90 per cent.