Photocatalytic Process of Simultaneous Desulfurization and Denitrification of Flue Gas by TiO2–Polyacrylonitrile Nanofibers

Abstract

TiO2 nanoparticles were successfully fabricated on electrospun polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanofibers via the coupling of electrospinning and hydrothermal pathway. A straightforward photocatalysis oxidation process has been developed for simultaneous desulfurization and denitrification of flue gas using the TiO2-PAN photocatalyst. Also, the influences of some important operating parameters, such as titanium loading content of catalyst, flue gas humidity, flue gas flow, and inlet flue gas temperature on removal efficiencies of SO2 and NO were investigated. The results demonstrated that removal efficiencies of 99.3% for SO2 and 71.2% for NO were attained under the following optimal experiment conditions: titanium loading content, 6.78 At %; gas flow rate, 200 mL/min; flue gas humidity, 5%; inlet flue gas temperature, 40 °C. Furthermore, the presumed reaction mechanism of SO2 and NO removal using TiO2-PAN photocatalyst under UV light was proposed.