Electron Flue Gases Treatment in Poland

Abstract

The emission of environmental pollutants such as SO2 and NOx into the atmosphere from heavy industrial activities, and in particular from fossil fuel burning in electricity production, is creating increasing concern. One of the three areas of the world most affected by the resultant acid rain lies in eastern and central Europe. A major contribution to this pollution comes from the burning of poor quality pit and brown coal with a high sulfur content. Many countries around the world have imposed industrial emission limits and this move has generated renewed interest in finding viable and cost effective solutions to SO2 and NOx pollution control. Conventional technologies - wet scrubbing for SO2 and selective catalytic reduction for NOx have reached their full potential. New technologies are being investigated for industrial scale commercial viability. One of them is the electron beam dry scrubbing process, which allows the simultaneous removal of SO2 and NOx from industrial flue gases. Institute of Nuclear Chemistry and Technology (INCT) started research on the electron beam flue gas treatment process ten years ago. A laboratory unit with a gas flow of 400 Nm3/h and a pilot plant with a gas flow 20 000 Nm3/h have been constructed. The laboratory unit uses a 20 kW, 2 MeV accelerator and two accelerators, 50 kW each, 700 keV are applied in the pilot plant. An industrial plant with a gas flow of 270 000 Nm3/h and 1200 kW beam power is now under development and construction. During the years of the research, double gas irradiation, non equal two stage energy delivery, high/low humidity and high/low SO2 content have been investigated, which resulted in low dose requirements, and reduced electrical consumption. High removal efficiencies for SO2 (up to 98%) and NOx (up to 80%) have been demonstrated during the testing. Continuous operation of the pilot plant has been demonstrated as well. Agricultural tests performed by three independent institutions have proved full fertilizer applicability of the by-product. Industrial tests concerning the application of the by-product for NPK fertilizer production have been performed successfully. Economical and technical comparison with conventional technologies have demonstrated the competitiveness of this technology.