Sol−Gel-Derived Alumina-Supported Copper Oxide Sorbent for Flue Gas Desulfurization

Abstract

Nanostructed mesoporous CuO/γ-Al2O3 granular sorbents were prepared by the sol−gel method. Performance of the sol−gel-derived CuO/γ-Al2O3 sorbents for SO2 removal was studied in a fixed-bed adsorption system. SO2 breakthrough curves with a feed stream of air containing 2000 ppm SO2 were measured at different temperatures (300−500 °C) and flow rates (interstitial velocity of 0.25−6.96 cm/s). The optimum sulfation and regeneration temperature on the sol−gel-derived sorbent was found to be 400 °C. The properties of the sol−gel-derived sorbents are compared with a similar sorbent from a commercial source used in the pilot-scale copper oxide flue gas desulfurization process. At high temperatures (>400 °C) the sol−gel-derived CuO sorbents exhibit catalytic properties for converting SO2 to SO3. The crush strength of the sol−gel-derived sorbents is about 5 times that of the commercial sample, while the attrition rate of the former is about 4−10 times smaller than the latter. The SO2 sorption capacity of the sol−g...