REMOVAL OF SO2 FROM FLUE GAS BY CHEMICAL ABSORPTION IN TRONA ORE SOLUTION: MODELING STUDY

Abstract

The flue gas generated from various coal/oil fired power plants, chemical process plants, cannot be released directly into the environment due to the presence of some of the poisonous components like SO2. The main adverse effect is observed from the release and absorption of SO z into the moisture in the environment causing acid rain and posing a number of environmental and human-health hazards. In this paper the desulphurisation technique has been simulated using trona ore (Na,)CO3.NaHCO3.2H2O) solution. The mathematical model has been developed for the flue gas desulfurization plant using packed bed reactor taking into account of various chemical processes like absorption of SO2, thermal decomposition of sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3), reaction of sodium carbonate (Na2CO3) with SO2. The model equations are solved by equation solver tool in MATLAB R2008a. The trona conversion efficiency of the packed bed is compared with that of the spray tower and the concentration variation of the components, absorption flux variation, pH variation, SO2 removal efficiency variation along the bed height is also studied.