Silica scrubbing from superheated steam using aqueous potassium carbonate solution: An experimental investigation

Abstract

A study on scrubbing of superheated steam containing silica impurities is performed using an aqueous potassium carbonate solution as a potential application in mitigation of superheated geothermal steam. An experimental setup aimed at testing a silica particle scrubbing technique was built. The setup consists of a superheated steam generating system, a silica particle feeding and an injection system, a salt solution injection and separation system, and a sampling unit. Silica particle concentration, salt solution concentration and superheated steam temperature were determined at the outlet for different injected salt solution concentrations. Results indicate improved scrubbing performance obtained using relatively small amounts of aqueous potassium carbonate solution as compared to that obtained using traditional wet scrubbing, while allowing the superheat to be conserved.