화학공학소재연구정보센터
Energy & Fuels, Vol.27, No.5, 2762-2766, 2013
Regeneration of Used Alkali Carbonates for Gaseous Sulfur Removal in a Gasification System
Integrated coal gasification combined cycle is expected to play an important role as one of a number of highly efficient conversion technologies for carbonaceous resources. However, it is vital to remove as much H2S and COS as possible. Our previous study suggested that the molten alkali carbonates of 43 mol of Na2CO3 + 57 mol of K2CO3 can completely adsorb them at 1173 K to form alkali sulfides. Furthermore, to enhance the overall efficiency in the gasification system, the regeneration characteristics of the used alkali carbonates should be studied. Therefore, the current study works on that issue. The optimum regeneration condition for experiments was estimated by chemical equilibrium software, FactSage 6.2, prior to the regeneration experiments. Chemical equilibrium calculations suggested that a mixture of carbon dioxide and steam could regenerate the used alkali carbonates. The experiments were conducted in an electrically heated tube reactor using a mixture of CO2 and steam as the regeneration agent. As a result, the remaining sulfur in solid after regeneration experiments was around 5 mass % of the total sulfur content in the raw sample at an optimum temperature range of 650-773 K. It is expected that around 95% of alkali sulfides was converted back to alkali carbonates.