Abstract
Under the extensive implementation of ultra-low emission facilities, sulfur trioxide (SO3) has received increasing attention. This article reviews the measurement techniques for SO3 in flue gas, which include controlled condensation method (CCM), isopropanol absorption method (IPA), salt method, tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy (TDLAS), ultraviolet absorption spectroscopy (UVs), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The first three methods are chemical methods, which focus on the extraction of SO3 from flue gas. With highly reactive nature and relatively low concentrations, which are about 5 mg/m3 even lower, achieving high-fidelity flue gas sampling and non-destructive extraction of SO3 is the key to SO3 measurement. The latter three methods belong to spectroscopic methods, which focus on the principle, system composition, and influencing factor analysis. With real-time response and 1-ppm detection limit, attention is attracted to spectroscopic methods on online measurement. This article comprehensively introduces the measurement techniques for SO3 concentration in flue gas and presents conclusions so as to enable researchers to decide the direction of further investigation.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
Data availability
All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article (and its supplementary information files).
References
Ahn JY, Okerlund R, Fry A, Eddings EG (2011) Sulfur trioxide formation during oxy-coal combustion. Int J Greenhouse Gas Control 5:S127–S135. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijggc.2011.05.009
Ai XY. (2019) Ultraviolet absorption spectroscopy properties of inorganic anions such as sulphate and nitrate. Dissertation, Harbin Institute of Technology (in Chinese)
Alexander F, Sønnik C (2016) Sulfur trioxide measurement technique for SCR units. The Danish Environmental Protection Agency, Danish. https://www2.mst.dk/Udgiv/publications/2016/10/978-87-93529-18-2.pdf. Accessed October 2016
Belo LP, Elliott LK, Stanger RJ, Sporl R, Shah KV, Maier J, Wall TF (2014) High-temperature conversion of SO3 to SO3: homogeneous experiments and catalytic effect of fly ash from air and oxy-fuel firing. Energy Fuel 28:7243–7251. https://doi.org/10.1021/ef5020346
Benson LB. (2007) Use of magnesium hydroxide for reduction of plume visibility in coal-fired power plants. In, 2007. vol Conference Proceedings. pp 3048-3060. http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.476.3730
Bertolacini RJ, Barney JE (1958) Ultraviolet spectrophotometric determination of sulfate, chloride, and fluoride with chloranilic acid. Anal Chem 30:202–205. https://doi.org/10.1021/ac60134a012
Chen ZM, Shen MC, Liu HX, Meng YC (2019) Analysis of test method of SO3 in flue gas of coal fired power plant. (in Chinese) Shandong. Chem Ind 48:252–254. https://doi.org/10.3969/j.issn.1008-021X.2019.09.102
David MS et al. (2001) Pollutant emission monitoring using QC laser-based mid-IR sensors. Paper presented at the Water, Ground Air Pollut Monit Remediation, https://doi.org/10.1117/12.417364
Du Z, Zhang S, Li J, Gao N, Tong K (2019) Mid-infrared tunable laser-based broadband fingerprint absorption spectroscopy for trace gas sensing: a review. Appl Sci 9:338. https://doi.org/10.3390/app9020338
Fleig D, Normann F, Andersson K, Johnsson F, Leckner B (2009) The fate of sulphur during oxy-fuel combustion of lignite. Energy Procedia 1:383–390. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.egypro.2009.01.052
Fleig D, Andersson K, Johnsson F (2012a) Influence of operating conditions on SO3 formation during air and oxy-fuel combustion. Ind Eng Chem Res 51:9483–9491. https://doi.org/10.1021/ie301303c
Fleig D, Vainio E, Andersson K, Brink A, Johnsson F, Hupa M (2012b) Evaluation of SO3 measurement techniques in air and oxy-fuel combustion. Energy Fuel 26:5537–5549. https://doi.org/10.1021/ef301127x
Fukuchi T, Fukuchi T, Ninomiya H, Ninomiya H (2006) SO3 concentration measurement using ultraviolet absorption spectroscopy and thermal conversion. IEEJ Trans Fundam Mater 126(4):977–982. https://doi.org/10.1541/ieejfms.126.977
Grosch H, Fateev A, Nielsen KL, Clausen S (2013) Hot gas flow cell for optical measurements on reactive gases. J Quant Spectrosc Radiat Transf 130:392–399. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jqsrt.2013.06.029
Hieta T, Merimaa M (2014) Simultaneous detection of SO2, SO3 and H2O using QCL spectrometer for combustion applications. Appl Phys B Lasers Opt 117:847–854. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00340-014-5896-9
Hiroshi O, Shigeaki M, Yoshiaki O (1984) Continuous measuring method of concentration of sulfur trioxide in waste gas. JPS59197859 (A) ― 1984-11-09 https://worldwide.espacenet.com/publicationDetails/biblio?FT=D&date=19841109&DB=EPODOC&CC=JP&NR=S59197859A. Accessed 09 Nov 1984
Ibanez JG, Batten CF, Wentworth WE (2008) Simultaneous determination of SO3(g) and SO2(g) in a flowing gas. Ind Eng Chem Res 47:2449–2454. https://doi.org/10.1021/ie0715198
Jakab GJ, Clarke RW, Hemenway DR, Longphre MV, Kleeberger SR, Frank R (1996) Inhalation of acid coated carbon black particles impairs alveolar macrophage phagocytosis. Toxicol Lett 88:243–248. https://doi.org/10.1016/0378-4274(96)03745-9
Jaworowski RJ, Mack SS (1979) Evaluation of methods for measurement of SO3-H2SO4 in flue-gas. Japca J Air Waste Manag 29:43–46. https://doi.org/10.1080/00022470.1979.10470750
Joly L, Zéninari V, Parvitte B, Weidmann D, Courtois D, Bonetti Y, Aellen T, Beck M, Faist J, Hofstetter D (2003) Spectroscopic study of the ν1 band of SO2 using a continuous-wave DFB QCL at 9.1 μm. Appl Phys B Lasers Opt 77:703–706. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00340-003-1310-8
Kikuchi R (2001) Environmental management of sulfur trioxide emission: impact of SO3 on human health. Environ Manag 27:837–844. https://doi.org/10.1007/s002670010192
Li XL, Duan JX, Li JZ, Zhang WJ (2017) Control technology and determination methods of SO3 in flue gas from coal-fired power plants (in Chinese). Environ Eng 35:98–102. https://doi.org/10.13205/j.hjgc.201705021
Liu T, Zhang Q (2016) Determination of sulfur trioxide in flue gas of coal-fired power plant by ion chromatography (in Chinese). Environ Impact Assessment 38:76–78. https://doi.org/10.14068/j.ceia.2016.05.020
Lu JY, Zhou ZY, Zhang HZ, Yang Z (2019) Influenced factors study and evaluation for SO2/SO3 conversion rate in SCR process. Fuel 245:528–533. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2019.02.077
Maddalone RF, Newton SF, Rhudy RG, Statnick RM (1979) Laboratory and field evaluation of the controlled condensation system for SO3 measurements in flue-gas streams. J Air Pollut Control Assoc 29:626–631. https://doi.org/10.1080/00022470.1979.10470834
Maki A, Blake TA, Sams RL, Vulpanovici N, Barber J, Chrysostom ETH, Masiello T, Nibler JW, Weber A (2001) High-resolution infrared spectra of the ν2, ν3, ν4, and 2ν3 bands of 32S16O3. J Mol Spectrosc 210:240–249. https://doi.org/10.1006/jmsp.2001.8454
Moede JA, Curran C (1949) Dielectric properties and ultraviolet absorption spectra of addition compounds of sulfur dioxide and sulfur trioxide with tertiary amines. J Am Chem Soc 71:852–858. https://doi.org/10.1021/ja01171a025
Nova I, Acqua LD, Lietti L, Giamello E, Forzatti P (2001) Study of thermal deactivation of a de-NOx commercial catalyst. Appl Catal B-Environ 35:31–42. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0926-3373(01)00229-6
Rawlins WT, Hensley JM, Sonnenfroh DM, Oakes DB, Allen MG (2005) Quantum cascade laser sensor for SO2 and SO3 for application to combustor exhaust streams. Appl Opt 44:6635–6643. https://doi.org/10.1364/ao.44.006635
Ren YJ, Wu Q, Wen M, Li G, Xu L, Ding X, Li Z, Tang Y, Wang Y, Li Q, Wang S (2020) Sulfur trioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants in China and implications on future control. Fuel 261:116438. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2019.116438
Rothman LS, Gordon IE, Barber RJ, Dothe H, Gamache RR, Goldman A, Perevalov VI, Tashkun SA, Tennyson J (2010) HITEMP, the high-temperature molecular spectroscopic database. J Quant Spectrosc Radiat Transf 111:2139–2150. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jqsrt.2010.05.001
Sakuragawa A, Nakayama S, Okutani T (1994) Flow-injection spectrophotometric determination of micro-amounts of sulfate ion in surface-water and sea-water samples with a barium chromate reaction column. Anal Sci 10:77–81. https://doi.org/10.2116/analsci.10.77
Sarbassov Y, Duan L, Manovic V, Anthony EJ (2018) Sulfur trioxide formation/emissions in coal-fired air- and oxy-fuel combustion processes: a review. Greenhouse Gases: Science and Technology 8:402–428. https://doi.org/10.1002/ghg.1767
Sonnenfroh DM et al (2001) Pollutant emission monitoring using QC laser-based mid-IR sensors Water, Ground, And Air Pollution. Monit Remed 4199:86–97. https://doi.org/10.1117/12.417364
T Kurata JI, Kusama S, Suzuk K (2003) Development of SO3 concentration measurement system. Ishikawajima-Harima Giho/IHI Eng Rev 43:52–57
Tian Y, Shen H, Wang Q, Liu A, Gao W, Chen XW, Chen ML, Zhao Z (2018) Online high temporal resolution measurement of atmospheric sulfate and sulfur trioxide with a light emitting diode and liquid core waveguide-based sensor. Anal Chem 90:7843–7847. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.analchem.8b01055
Timothy, AB et al. (1999) Measurement of SO2 and SO3 using a tunable diode laser system. Paper presented at the Environmental Monitoring and Remediation Technologies, https://doi.org/10.1117/12.339057
Tokura A, Tadanaga O, Nishimiya T, Muta K, Kamiyama N, Yonemura M, Fujii S, Tsumura Y, Abe M, Takenouchi H, Kenmotsu K, Sakai Y (2016) Investigation of SO3 absorption line for in situ gas detection inside combustion plants using a 4-mum-band laser source. Appl Opt 55:6887–6892. https://doi.org/10.1364/AO.55.006887
Underwood DS, Yurchenko SN, Tennyson J, Al-Refaie AF, Clausen S, Fateev A (2016) ExoMol molecular line lists - XVII. The rotation-vibration spectrum of hot SO3. Mon Not R Astron Soc 462:4300–4313. https://doi.org/10.1093/mnras/stw1828
Vainio E, Fleig D, Brink A, Andersson K, Johnsson F, Hupa M (2013) Experimental evaluation and field application of a salt method for SO3 measurement in flue gases. Energy Fuel 27:2767–2775. https://doi.org/10.1021/ef400271t
Vandaele AC, Simon PC, Guilmot JM, Carleer M, Colin R (1994) SO2 absorption cross section measurement in the UV using a Fourier transform spectrometer. J Geophys Res 99:25599. https://doi.org/10.1029/94jd02187
Waclawek JP, Lewicki R, Moser H, Brandstetter M, Tittel FK, Lendl B (2014) Quartz-enhanced photoacoustic spectroscopy-based sensor system for sulfur dioxide detection using a CW DFB-QCL. Appl Phys B Lasers Opt 117:113–120. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00340-014-5809-y
Wang GY (2019a) Analysis and application of controlled condensation method to detect SO3 in flue gas. Dissertation, North China Electric Power University (in Chinese)
Wang JX. (2019b) Research on online monitoring of sulfur trioxide in coal-fired power plants. Dissertation, North China Electric Power University (in Chinese)
Werle P (2011) Accuracy and precision of laser spectrometers for trace gas sensing in the presence of optical fringes and atmospheric turbulence. Appl Phys B-Lasers O 102:313–329. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00340-010-4165-9
Xiong B, Du ZH, Li JY (2015) Modulation index optimization for optical fringe suppression in wavelength modulation spectroscopy. Rev Sci Instrum 86:113104. https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4935920
Yang D, Zheng F (2016) Detection technique of SO3 content in coal-fired flue gas and accuracy analysis. Clean Coal Technol Sustain Dev 563-566. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-2023-0_76
Yang ZD, Zheng C, Zhang X, Zhou H, Silva AA, Liu C(T), Snyder B, Wang Y, Gao X (2018) Challenge of SO3 removal by wet electrostatic precipitator under simulated flue gas with high SO3 concentration. Fuel 217:597–604. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2017.12.125
Zhang SL. (2007) Ultraviolet absorption spectroscopy and related frequency filtering technology to measure combustion polluted gas. Dissertation, Zhejiang University (in Chinese)
Zhang DJ, Liu HX, Zhao L (2018) Research on sampling method of condensable particulate matter (SO3) in coal-fired power plant. (in Chinese). Electric Power 51:33–36 149. https://kns.cnki.net/kcms/detail/detail.aspx?dbcode=CJFD&dbname=CJFDLAST2018&filename=ZGDL201806006&v=rOXAJLcr6ql2K57nwcs0TCJ0JWBPZlbMefS5uT1TPzT3n4%25mmd2B23qMuppTwfnnr50aV. Accessed 11 Feb 2018
Zhang HL, Wu T, He XD (2019) Progress of measurement of infrared absorption spectroscopy based on QCL. Spectrosc Spectr Anal 39:2751–2757. http://www.opticsjournal.net/Articles/abstract?aid=OJ190928000040Yu2x4A. Accessed 01 September 2019
Zhang Y, Zheng C, Hu F, Zhao H, Liu S, Yang Z, Zhu Y, Gao X (2020) Field test of SO3 removal in ultra-low emission coal-fired power plants. Environ Sci Pollut Res 27:4746–4755. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-019-07210-7
Zheng C, Li X, Yang Z, Zhang Y, Wu W, Wu X, Wu X, Gao X (2017) Development and experimental evaluation of a continuous monitor for SO3 measurement. Energy Fuel 31:9684–9692. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.energyfuels.7b01181
Zheng CH, Wang Y, Liu Y, Yang Z, Qu R, Ye D, Liang C, Liu S, Gao X (2019) Formation, transformation, measurement, and control of SO3 in coal-fired power plants. Fuel 241:327–346. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2018.12.039
Zheng CH et al (2020) Experimental study on the removal of SO3 from coal-fired flue gas by alkaline sorbent. Fuel 259:116306. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2019.116306
Zuo WJ, Zhang XY, Li YZ, Zhao C, Dong Y (2020) Evaluation of the controlled condensation method for flue gas SO3/H2SO4 measurement. Fuel Process Technol 206:106461. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuproc.2020.106461
Funding
This work was supported by the Innovative Research Groups of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51390491).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Xuecheng Wu made substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work. Jianrong Wang, Chenxin Cai, and Yingchun Wu performed the literature search and data analysis. The draft was written by Jianrong Wang. Chenghang Zheng, Yongxin Zhang, and Xiang Gao critically revised the work. All authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. And all authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Ethics approval and consent to participate
Not applicable.
Consent for publication
Not applicable.
Competing interests
The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
Additional information
Responsible Editor: Philipp Gariguess
Publisher’s note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Wu, X., Wang, J., Cai, C. et al. Measurement techniques for sulfur trioxide concentration in coal-fired flue gas: a review. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 22278–22295 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-12730-2
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-12730-2