Effects of magnetic fields on the improving mass transfer in flue gas desulfurization with a fluidized bed

Abstract

Paper presented at the 8th International Conference on Heat Transfer, Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics, Mauritius, 11-13 July, 2011.

Effects of magnetic fields on improving mass transfer in flue gas desulfurization with a fluidized bed are investigated in the paper. In this research, the magnetically fluidized bed (MFB) is used as the reactor in which ferromagnetic particles are fluidized with simulated flue gas under the influence of an external magnetic field. Lime slurry is continuously sprayed into the reactor. As a consequence, the desulfurization reaction and the slurry drying process take place simultaneously in the MFB. In this paper, the effects of ferromagnetic particles and external magnetic fields on the desulphurization are studied and compared with that of quartz particles as the fluidized particles. Experimental results show that the ferromagnetic particles not only act as a platform for lime slurry to drop on like quartz particles, but also act as a catalyst and a SO2 sorbent. The results also show that the specific area of ferromagnetic particles after reaction is increased with the magnetic intensity, and the external magnetic field promotes the oxidation of S(IV), improving the mass transfer between sulphur and its sorbent. Hence, the efficiency of desulphurization under the effects of external magnetic fields is higher than that in the general fluidized bed.