Chemical kinetics model for sulfur dioxide removal in flue gas using corona discharge

Plasma remediation is being investigated for the removal of sulfur dioxide from automotive exhausts and gases generated by combustion of fossil fuels. Modeling is playing an increasing vital role in process optimization and understanding of governing physical and chemical process. In this paper, a chemical kinetics model is developed to analyze the time evolution of the different main species involved in the flue gas initially stressed by a single pulse corona discharge at the atmospheric pressure and 300K. The typical gas composition in this model is N₂/O₂/H₂O/CO₂=74/5/6/15 with 500 ppm NO and 1000 ppm SO₂. The calculations indicate that sulfur dioxide is removed principally by reactions with OH radicals to produce sulfuric acid. The removal rate of SO₂ increased with increasing water vapor and oxygen content in the flue gas indicating that OH radical is important for SO₂ removal.