Title: Experimental study of the mechanisms of steam reactivation of unreacted calcium-based sorbent for Flue Gas Desulphurisation

Authors: Aijun Wang, Zhongchao Tan, Haiying Qi, Xuchang Xu

Addresses: Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1304 W Pennsylvania Ave, Urbana, Illinois, 61801, USA. ' Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive N.W., Calgary, Alberta, T2N 1N4, Canada. ' Department of Thermal Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, PR China. ' Department of Thermal Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, 100084, PR China

Abstract: This paper reports an experimental investigation of the mechanisms of steam reactivation of spent sorbent for flue gas desulphurisation. Sulphated lime samples were reactivated by using steam to increase the conversion rate of sorbent for flue gas desulphurisation. Samples were characterised using mercury porosimeter, XRD, and SEM. Reactivation temperatures were in the range of 200-800°C. Retention times were 5, 10, and 20 min. For the conditions within this work, it was found that sorbent particles broke down when reactivated at 200°C, and migration of trapped CaO outward was the main mechanism when reactivation temperature was greater than 300°C. [Received: April 9, 2007; Accepted: October 2, 2007]

Keywords: flue gas desulphurisation; FGD; calcium-based sorbent; steam reactivation; medium temperature; calcium oxide migration; spent sorbent.

DOI: 10.1504/IJOGCT.2008.019848

International Journal of Oil, Gas and Coal Technology, 2008 Vol.1 No.3, pp.330 - 344

Published online: 09 Aug 2008 *

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