Study on the Removal of SO2 from Simulated Flue Gas Using Dry Calcium-Spray with DBD Plasma

In this study, lime-hydrate (Ca(OH)2) desulfurizer was treated by plasma with strong ionization discharge of a dielectric barrier. The removal of SO2 from simulated flue gas was investigated. The principles of SO2 removal are discussed. Several factors affecting the efficiency of SO2 removal were studied. They included the ratio of calcium to sulfur (Ca/S), desulfurizer granularity, residence time of the flue gas, voltage applied to the discharge electrode in the plasma generator, and energy consumption. Experimental results indicate that the increase in Ca/S ratio, the applied voltage and discharge power, the residence time, and the reduction in the desulfurizer granularity all can raise the SO2 removal efficiency. The SO2 removal efficiency was up to 91.3% under the following conditions, namely a primary concentration of SO2 of 2262 × 10−6 (v/v) in the emission gas, 21%(v/v) of oxygen, 1.8% (v/v) of water, a Ca/S ratio of 1.48, a residence time of 2.8 s, a 3.4 kV voltage and a 10 kHz frequency power applied to the discharge electrodes in the plasma generator, and a flow rate of 100 m3/h for emission gas.