Theoretical and Experimental Investigation of SO2 Adsorption from Flue Gases in a Fluidized Bed of Copper Oxide

Among the air pollutants, sulfur dioxide has been given special emphasis for posing dangers to the environment. SO2 emissions in the air have harmful effects on human health and the environment. Respiratory diseases and exacerbation of heart diseases are among dangerous symptoms for human health, especially when high concentrations of SO2 are emitted. Therefore, in the present study, a wide variety of dry and wet processes were investigated to identify an appropriate process to reduce the amount of sulfur dioxide. Ultimately, the use of a fluidized bed containing metal oxides in a dry process was selected due to the factors such as simplicity of the process, forming a minimum of waste water and gas and ability to reduce pollution levels to acceptable environmental standards. In order to examine the performance of this type of fluidized beds, a laboratory scale set-up was constructed to investigate the effects of various operational parameters including temperature, inlet gas rate and concentration on the amount of sulfur dioxide adsorption by copper oxide