Modeling and simulation of flue gas desulfurization using slurry of fine activated carbon particles

Abstract EN

The main objective of the present work is to investigate the feasibility of using a slurry of fine activated carbon particles, DP<1 mm, in a fixed bed reactor for the removal of sulfur dioxide from simulated flue gas (air, SO2) stream.

A mathematical model governing the desulfurization process was proposed.

The partial differential equations which describe the adsorption of SO2 from a moving gas stream to the sorbent bed were solved using a finite difference method.

The kinetic parameters of the mathematical model were obtained from a series of experimental desulfurization runs carried out at isothermal conditions and different operating conditions ; bed temperature (333K-373K), initial SO2 concentration (500 ppm-2000ppm) and static bed height (10cm-24cm).

The results showed that the use of fine activated carbon particles improved the removal efficiency to about 97%.

The verification of the simulation and experimental results showed that the proposed model gave a good description of the desulfurization process with 95% confidence level.