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Numerical simulation of the simultaneous removal of particulate matter in a wet flue gas desulfurization system

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Abstract

The particulate matter (PM) could be simultaneously removed during the wet flue gas desulfurization (WFGD) process. To analyze the underlying mechanism and removal efficiency, the PM removal process in a desulfurization system was numerically simulated based on the population balance model and general dynamics equation in this study. The equation was solved using the fixed-step Monte Carlo method to determine the PM removal characteristics under different working conditions (such as spray intensity, velocity of the flue gas, and layers of slurry spray). When the flue gas velocity decreased from 7 to 3 m/s, the removal efficiency increased from 90.93 to 93.52%, and when the mean geometric droplet size decreased from 3 to 1 mm, the removal efficiency increased from 67.18 to 99.14%. Besides, large diameter PM was more easily removed by the desulfurization system. Thus, the numerical simulation method was proven to be feasible by comparing these results with field measurements of a WFGD system in a coal-fired power plant.

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Funding

This study is funded by the National key research and development program of China 2017YFB0603205 and National Natural Science Foundation of China U1609212, 51621005.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Clean Energy Utilization, National Environmental Protection Coal-fired Air Pollution Control Engineering Technology Center, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310027, China

    Yueqi Huang, Chenghang Zheng, Qingyi Li, Jun Zhang, Yishan Guo, Yongxin Zhang & Xiang Gao

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  1. Yueqi Huang
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  2. Chenghang Zheng
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  3. Qingyi Li
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  4. Jun Zhang
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  5. Yishan Guo
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  6. Yongxin Zhang
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  7. Xiang Gao
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Correspondence to Chenghang Zheng.

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Responsible editor: Bingcai Pan

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Huang, Y., Zheng, C., Li, Q. et al. Numerical simulation of the simultaneous removal of particulate matter in a wet flue gas desulfurization system. Environ Sci Pollut Res 27, 1598–1607 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-019-06773-9

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