Study on desulfurization abilities of some commonly used desulfurization agents

Abstract

The desulfurization abilities of some commonly used agents, namely fluidized CaO, CaC2, commercial-CaO, Mg, MgO, CaO · MgO, and mixtures of commercial-CaO-Mg were studied and compared under the same experimental conditions in a laboratory furnace at 1773 K. The desulfurization mechanisms of CaO · MgO, commercial-CaO, and mixtures of commercial-CaO and Mg were also studied. While fluidized CaO showed the best performance, commercial-CaO mixed with 20 mass% Mg achieved the second best desulfurization. Mg-granules performed slightly better than CaC2 and commercial-CaO, but somewhat less satisfactory compared to fluidized CaO and commercial-CaO-Mg mixtures. Since only the CaO portion in CaO · MgO functioned to take up sulfur, additional 70% mass had to be added to achieve the same desulfurization level. The poor ability of commercial-CaO in comparison to fluidized CaO powder was due to both its less reactive surface and agglomeration of the particles.