Simultaneous Removal of NOx and SO2 from Combustion Flue Gas by Pulsed Electron Beams

Abstract

This paper presents the results of plasma chemistry calculations to study the effect of dose rate, pulse length and pulse repetition rate on pulsed electron beam processing of NOx and SO2 in combustion flue gases. The main objective is to determine if the proposed combinations of dose rate, pulse length and pulse repetition rate would have any deleterious effect on the utilization of radicals for pollutant removal. For a dose rate of 2 × 106 kGy per second and a pulse length of 30 nanoseconds, the average dose per pulse is sufficiently low to prevent any deleterious effect on process efficiency because of radical-radical recombination reactions. During each post-pulse period, the radicals are utilized in the oxidation of NOx and SO2 in a timescale of around 200 microseconds; thus, with pulse frequencies of around 5 kilohertz or less, the radical concentrations remain sufficiently low to prevent any significant competition between radical -pollutant and radical - radical reactions. The main conclusion is that a pulsed electron beam reactor, operating with a dose rate of 2 × 106kGy per second, pulse length of 30 ns and pulse repetition rate of up to around 5 kHz, will have the same plasma chemistry efficiency as an electron beam reactor operating with a very low dose rate in continuous mode