Analysis and Optimization of

Spray Tower in WFGD

F. Li, K. J. Brown, W. Kalata, R. J. Schick
Spraying Systems Company
May 23rd, 2014
Ansys Convergence 2014 Regional Conference of Chicago

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 Introduction
Nature Human
Sulfur dioxide (SO2) is one of the major
pollutants in the atmosphere.
Beginning of 1980s, emission of SO2
caused by human activities achieved 65
Mt/year (~22% from US distribution).
SO2 impact on human: smog and soot,
etc.
Acid rain is well known for its health hazards, which resulted
from SO2 dissolving with precipitation droplets.
FGD is consist of several technologies to remove SO2 from
exhaust flue gases or other emitting processes.

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Flue Gas Desulfurization (FGD)
Lime/limestone
Wet Dual Alkali/MgO
Scrubbing
Mitsubishi/Bischoff
Limestone Forced Oxidation

Wet Sulfuric
SNOx FGD
Acid process

Lime
Trona
Sodium Dry Sorbent Trona
Spray-dry
(Bi)carbonate Injection
Scrubbing Sodium
Hydrated Lime
System
Carbonate

FGD is a set of technologies used to remove sulfur dioxide from exhaust flue gases.
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Spray Tower Evaluation
Maximum reduction and minimal scaling
Control of droplet
System implementation cost and pollutant reduction
Nozzle characteristics and placement
Common: hydraulic injectors
Full cone and hollow cone

Nozzles produce a range of drops, which sizes varies with:

Liquid properties
Nozzle type
Capacity
Pressure
Spray angle

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Spraying Systems Co.
World Leader in Spray Technology
Privately owned (Est. 1937)
Headquarters in Wheaton, IL

Products
Spray nozzles, related systems and accessories
Over 120,000 standard and 180,000 non-standard engineered products

Access to Market
Global/Regional engineering and manufacturing
85 local sales engineering offices around the world

Value added
Recognized global brand for spray technologies
Quality, service, support, engineered solutions
Serve 50 major industrial markets

5
Spray Characterization Technology

PDI/PDPA Phase Doppler Interferometry (PDI)

LSI - Artium 2D-MD
- flow rate, drop size, spray Flux Measurement Device
angle, spray coverage and - drop size & velocity
various quality control tests
4.0 1638 m

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Technology Combination

Computational Fluid
Dynamics (CFD) is the
science of predicting
Fluid flow
Heat transfer
Mass transfer
Chemical reactions
And related phenomena

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Spraying Systems Co. Nozzles
WFGD requires:
Extensive and precise performance, trouble-free
operation and long service life.
Customers satisfication:
-WhirlJet nozzles (hollow cone pattern)
-FullJet nozzles (full cone pattern)
-SpiralJet nozzles
Nozzle Qt. Pressure Flow Rate Spray Angle Exit Velocity Dv0.50

ID # psi gpm m/s m

1-1/2CX-25 10 12.2 33 74 7.2 1188
1-1/4CRC20-45 10 19.1 33 47 8.2 1155
1-1/4CRC20-45 12 13.2 27.5 47 6.8 1218
1-1/2CX-16 16 11.6 20.625 75 7.1 1150
1-1/4CX-12 20 13.2 16.5 70 7.5 1122
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CFD Set-up
Major mechanism
- discrete phase model
- volumetric chemistry
- chemical reaction model Mist eliminator

Absorber
- Inlet gas flow ~5,200,000 lb/hr Flow straightener
- Inlet SO2 ~35, 000lb/hr
- Whole spray levels designed by
Spraying Systems Co.
Physical design
- Babcock & Wilcox Company
- Standard industrial size
limestone spray scrubber
- Limestone forced oxidation
(LSFO) system
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 Reaction Mechanisms
Core Mechanism: wet combusting particle surface reaction chemistry model
In this case: particle species j (s) + gas phase species n products
CaCO3 + SO2 + 0.5O2 = CaSO4 + CO2

The particle reaction rate, R Rate of reaction is given as

(kg/m2s), can be expressed as ,

R = D0 (Cg - Cs) = Rc (Cs)N where,

where,
D0 =bulk diffusion coefficient (m/s)
Cg =mean reacting gas species concentration
in the bulk (kg/m3)
Cs =mean reacting gas species concentration
at the particle surface (kg/m3)
=rate of particle surface species depletion (kg/s)
Ap =particle surface area (m2)
Yj =mass fraction of surface species j in the particle
r =effectiveness factor (dimensionless)
=rate of particle surface species reaction per unit area
(kg/m2s)
Pn =bulk partial pressure of the gas phase species (Pa)

Rc =chemical reaction rate coefficient
N =apparent reaction order (dimensionless)
2014 ANSYS, Inc.
D0,r = diffusion rate coefficient for reaction r
= kinetic rate of reaction r
Nr = apparent order of reaction r 10
 CFD Results

Part I Nozzle Selection

Part II Optimization

2014 ANSYS, Inc.

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 Nozzle Qty. 10 Spray Tower
SO2 mass fraction

Lowest Removal Highest Removal

10CX @ L1 10CRC @ L1 10CX @ L2 10CRC @ L2 12

 Nozzle Qty. 10 Particle Tracking
Droplet Diameter Droplet Diameter
(m) (m)

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10CX @ L1 10CX @ L2 10CRC @ L1 10CRC @ L2
 Nozzle Qty. 12 Gas
SO2 mass fraction

slightly higher Velocity (m/s)

12CRC @ L3 12CRC @ L4
Displayed maximum reaction rate was
510-5 kgmol/(m3s).

12CRC @ L3 12CRC @ L4 14
 Nozzle Qty. 12 Injection
Spray Concentration
(kg/m3)

Droplet Diameter
(m)

12CRC @ L3 12CRC @ L4 12CRC @ L3 12CRC @ L4 15

 Nozzle Qty. 16 Spray Tower
SO2 mass fraction

Spray Concentration
(kg/m3)

Higher

16CX @ L5 16CX @ L6

16CX @ L5 16CX @ L6 16
 Nozzle Qty. 16 Drop/Gas Tracking
Droplet Diameter
(m)
Temperature (K)

16CX @ L5 16CX @ L6
Gas path lines colored by its temperature
displayed on the contour of particle
diameter (refer to left) at the middle plane.
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16CX @ L5 16CX @ L6
Part I - Conclusion
Target:
-Select the better performance nozzle and location for
multiple nozzles
Evaluation of designs:
-SO2 reduction capability
-wall contact amount
-slurry consumption
CRC series nozzle
-bigger passage-exits design
-narrow spray angle
-capacity limitation for desired
10/12-nozzle performance trends differ than 16-nozzle

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 CFD Results

Part I Nozzle Selection

Part II Optimization

2014 ANSYS, Inc.

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 Drop Size Distribution
Rosin-Rammler Distribution Function
Widely accepted function to model the
distribution of droplet sized in spray atomizers.
q
D

Q 1 e X MMD
X 1/ q
(0.693)
MMD (DV0.50): drop diameter such that 50% of total volume is in drops of smaller diameter (obtained
experimentally)
D: diameter
Q: fraction of volume contained in drops of diameter less than D
X: constant (generally computed from known value of MMD)
q (N): constant, spread parameter (based on spray type.)
Dmin - DV0.01: drop diameter such that 1% of total volume is in drops of smaller diameter
Dmax - DV0.99: drop diameter such that 99% of total volume is in drops of smaller diameter

2014 ANSYS, Inc.

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 Optimization Test Gas Profile

Velocity (m/s)

q=2.5

q=3.0

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10n 12n 16n 20n
 Optimization Test SO2 Removal

SO2 mass fraction

10n 89.9% 12n 88.7% 16n 94.5% 20n 94.8%

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10n 91.1% 12n 90.3% 16n 94.9% 20n 95.1%
 Optimization Test (q=2.5) Injection
Spray Concentration
(kg/m3)

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10n 12n 16n 20n
 Optimization Test (q=2.5) Droplets
Droplet Diameter
(m)

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10n 12n 16n 20n
 Optimization Test (q=3.0) Injection
Spray Concentration
(kg/m3)

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10n 12n 16n 20n
 Optimization Test (q=3.0) Droplets
Droplet Diameter
(m)

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10n 12n 16n 20n
Animation of Injection

16cx q=2.5

16cx q=3.0

20cx q=2.5

20cx q=3.0 27
 Conclusion
Results matched with previous work:
Greater efficacy of pollutant removal and reduced wall contact:
Smaller droplet distribution
More uniform droplet distribution.
Location of injections relative to gas flow.
Further results learned from this work:
Velocity behavior exhibits less oscillation and recirculation than pilot-plant
study
Effective limestone usage was confirmed in the simulation, also matched
with industrial measurements.
Optimal setup with 16-nozzle.
Smaller flow per nozzle = smaller drop size
More nozzles = more uniform distribution
Diminishing returns beyond 16 nozzles
Increase in the RR spread parameter resulted in better SO2 reduction.

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 Summary
This work demonstrates the capability of CFD
simulation on the applications of WFGD spray tower.
The results indicate similar trends to previous work.
The key of this spray system optimization is finding the
balance of effective pollutant removal and slurry
supply, through control of spray characteristics.
Spray behavior and its interaction with gas is critical to
solve this pollution issue.

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 Discussion and Suggestions
Discussion
Simplified layout was applied in the simulation to save simulation
time, instead of using the original design of flow straightener and
mist collector.
This work is produced only for the specific absorber introduced
above in the beginning. Same result will not be guaranteed for other
absorbers even same nozzles were applied.

Suggestion
Contact Spraying Systems Co. for exact spraying injector selections
based on your system conditions. Applications will be evaluated by
spray experts with our spray characterization knowledge and
technology.
We can help to get the optimal spraying system for individual needs.

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