Flue gas desulfurization using methanol as a solvent and bromine or iodine as an oxidant

A new method is used to remove sulfur dioxide from the flue gas using iodine as an oxidant and methanol as a solvent. The flue gas that contains sulfur dioxide was bubbled through a solution containing the oxidant and the solvent. The experimental results are compared with those obtained from similar experiments using bromine in water and bromine in methanol solutions. Methanol was used to avoid bromine stripping from water Bromine and iodine are, regenerated by the electrolysis of the resulting hydrobromic and hydroiodic acids. Sulfuric acid and hydrogen gas are the products of the electrolysis process. The use of iodine in this study shows higher desulfurization rate than using bromine. Moreover, during the electrolysis process, the measured concentrations of iodine is comparable to the calculated ones, but their is a deviation in the case of bromine.