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This article illustrates the experimental research which disposes low concentration SO2 flue gases through liquid absorption and
electrodialysis enrichment. It introduces the technology and devices to produce sulfuric acid by liquid absorption and oxidation of
low concentration SO2 in aqueous solutions as well as electrodialysis enrichment in the same reactor. Numerous experiments have
been carried out in order to observe the performance of the reactor under the operating conditions: the current density, temperature,
volume flow rate of the electrolyte, the sulfuric acid concentration, volume flow rate of the gas, the components of gas mixture, and
initial SO2 concentration. When the removal rate of SO2 reaches 83.64%, we eventually get sulfuric acid with the concentration of
28.56%.
© The Author(s) 2015. Published by ECS. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons
Attribution Non-Commercial No Derivatives 4.0 License (CC BY-NC-ND, http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/),
which permits non-commercial reuse, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is not changed in any
way and is properly cited. For permission for commercial reuse, please email: oa@electrochem.org. [DOI: 10.1149/2.0591509jes]
All rights reserved.
Manuscript submitted February 11, 2015; revised manuscript received June 4, 2015. Published June 25, 2015.
Sulfur dioxide in flue gas generated from the combustion of fossil 2SO3 2− → S2 O6 2− + 2e−
fuel, such as metal smelting factory, thermal power plants, etc. It is
the main cause of air pollution and acid rain. Many countries have At pH < 2, the mechanism leading to sulfate formation is
therefore adopted strict regulations to SO2 emissions from coal and suggested.
oil-fired boilers, which are one of the primary sources of SO2 emis- 2SO2 (aqu) + 2H2 O → S2 O6 2− + 4H+ + 2e−
sions. The increasing importance of sulfur dioxide pollution control
stimulated the improvement of technology for the removal of sulfur
S2 O6 2− + 2H2 O → 2HSO4 − + 2H+ + 2e−
dioxide from flue and waste gases.
The electrochemical processes which do not require the continu- There are many factors affecting the reaction process, the effect of
ous use of chemical reagents, possess advantages and bring a helpful pH and activation of SO3 2- ion has been discussed.14
contribution in the proposal or development of depollution processes.1 Absorption and oxidation of SO2 has typically necessitated the
Sulfur dioxide can be oxidized electrochemically to species such as use of Separate operations, and an electrolytic cell is used to restore
sulfuric acid and dithionite, the electrochemical oxidation of SO2 has absorption liquid performance. The using of electrodialysis in pu-
been investigated both as a pollution control method and as part of re- rification is potentially an attractive alternative to the promotion of
cycling and utilization of resources.2,3 The electrochemical oxidation absorption and enrichment.15
of sulfur dioxide can be achieved either through a direct process at an The objective of this research was to observe the performance of a
anode surface or using a redox mediator through a chemical process, reactor and a reaction process, which has unique design for gas–liquid
which has to be regenerated at the electrode.4 In the electrolysis of reaction systems for the direct electro-oxidation of sulfur dioxide to
the sulfur dioxide absorbed in aqueous solution, the process involves sulfuric acid. This application is to enable the recovery of SO2 from
a chemical oxidation of SO2 by adsorbed oxygen species.5 It is also waste gases, in the form of sulfuric acid. A further potential reduction
possible that SO2 is oxidized at the anode while hydrogen is produced in cost may result from performing the absorption of SO2 and its
at the cathode.6 Furthermore, the removal of SO2 from the copper ions electrochemical oxidation in one unit.
containing wastes provides electrowinning of copper simultaneously.7
The main products of electrochemical oxidation and reduction of SO2
in acid solution are sulfuric acid and sulfur, respectively. The forma- Experimental
tion of sulfur may come with a significant solids handling problem The experimental installation.— The reactor used in this study
and can lead to problems in cell operation.8 In many applications, for was a cylindrical electrochemical reactor with a height of 50 cm and
example, in the chemical process industries, sulfuric acid is a desir- an internal diameter of 10 cm. The reactor combines the function
able product as it can be used in chemical manufacture and is readily of gas absorption, electrochemical reaction and enrichment of con-
transported. centration in one unit. The exhaust gas enters the reactor from the
The overall reaction for the oxidation of SO2 can be written as: bottom, SO2 is absorbed and distributed uniformly into the catholyte
SO2 (aq) + 2H2 O → H2 SO4 + 2H+ + 2e− on the sieve aeration which has 0.1 mm pores at the bottom of the
column, the absorption chamber with a height of 15 cm. The elec-
2H+ + 2e− → 2H2 (g) trodialysis chamber was composed of anode plate, diaphragm, an-
ion exchange membrane, diaphragm, cathode plate, diaphragm, anion
Where hydrogen is formed at the cathode. exchange membrane. These eight components were arranged in se-
Dissolved sulfur dioxide is converted to sulfuric acid at the anode quence, rolled and inserted in the cylindrical cell. Then the anode and
and hydrogen is formed at the cathode.9 The mechanism of SO2 oxida- cathode were connected forming the reactor as shown in Fig. 1. The
tion in water is complex, the absorption of sulfur dioxide into aqueous length and width of anode plate, cathode plate, anion exchange mem-
solution is followed by several possible equilibrium processes.10–13 brane, diaphragm were all 20 cm and 100 cm, and the thicknesses
SO2 (g) → SO2 (aqu) were respectively 0.1 mm, 0.1 mm, 0.4 mm, 1.5 mm. The active area
of the cell is 0.2 m2 , and the effective reaction area which removing
SO2 + H2 O = H+ + HSO3 − clapboard borders and drainage channels was 1550 cm2 . The mix-
ture entered the cathode chamber between the coiling cathode plate
and anion exchange membrane. The sulfuric acid ion that catalyzed
z
E-mail: km_yyt@163.com from sulfurous acid ion and part of sulfurous ion entered the anode
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E142 Journal of The Electrochemical Society, 162 (9) E141-E147 (2015)
chamber through anion exchange membrane under the influence of C) to measure the gas flow rate of the simulated gas mixture with
electric field, the anode oxidized the sulfurous acid ion into sulfuric SO2 , CO2 , air and N2. Gas flow rates were converted to normalized
acid ion, and continuously increased the concentration of sulfuric acid volumetric flow rate where one mole is equal to 22.4 liters. The con-
out from the anode chamber, the liquid and purified gas separate from centrations of SO2 in the gaseous feed and from the reactor were tested
each other in separation chamber with a height of 15 cm at top of the by an online sulfur phosphorus microscale analyzer with a FPD detec-
reactor, the purified gas was discharged after detection, the absorption tor. (A GC-14 C gas chromatograph with flame photometric detector
liquid was recycled. and a polytetrafluoroethylene-packed column GD-401 support was
employed in this study).Cell voltage was supplied by a power supply
Material and methods.— The cylindrical reactor shell, the reactor (SUN, Type SNP-60N-6450 CV/CC DC regulated power supply). The
internal pipe, the diaphragm between plates, the sieve aerator, were temperature of the electrolyte is controlled by a thermostat(OMRON
all made of polytetrafluoroethylene. The cathode was manganese ox- E5CN/E5CN-U Digital Temperature Controller). The concentration
ide catalyst on 304 chrome-nickel austenitic stainless steel substrate. of sulfurous and sulfuric acid ion was detected by barium chromate
The anode was Ru-Ir-Ti oxide coating on titanium substrate. The spectrophotometry16 and gravimetric method using barium chloride.17
polyethylene heterogeneous membrane was used as anion exchange
membrane which was made of a styrene quaternary ammonium type The experimental process.— The electrodialysis reactor was
anion exchange resin using polyethylene as the adhesive and through placed in a gas and electrolyte flow circuit as shown in Fig. 2. The
mixing pull piece with net cloth reinforced polyethylene, and was Anolyte Tank and Catholyte Tank were filled with water. Flow of
made by the membrane manufacturing institute Shanghai of Chinese. gas mixture was initiated and outlet concentration of SO2 was moni-
We use multi-channel flow controller (Seven Star Electronics Co,LTD. tored. Saturation of catholyte was indicated when inlet and outlet gas
D08-1F Flow/Pressure Controller and Mass Flow Meter Type D07-19 stream concentrations were equal. Then electric current was initiated.
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Journal of The Electrochemical Society, 162 (9) E141-E147 (2015) E143
Figure 3. SO2 saturation process and the changes after making current. (Cur-
rent density of 40 mA/cm2 ; Electrolyte flow of 100 mL/min; Gas flow rate of Figure 5. The change with the catholyte flow rate. (SO2 concentration of 1100
50 mL/min; Components of gas is SO2 + Air; The reaction temperature of ppm; Current density of 40 mA/cm2 ; Gas flow rate of 50 mL/min; Components
40◦ C.) of gas is SO2 + Air; The reaction temperature of 40◦ C.)
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E144 Journal of The Electrochemical Society, 162 (9) E141-E147 (2015)
Figure 6. The relationship between voltage and current density with the Figure 8. The relationship between current density and removal efficiency
anolyte flow rate. (SO2 concentration of 1100 ppm; Gas flow rate of 50 mL/min; under different gas flow rate.(SO2 concentration of 1100 ppm; Current density
Components of gas is SO2 + Air; The reaction temperature of 40◦ C.) of 40 mA/cm2 ; Electrolyte flow of 100 mL/min; Components of gas is SO2 +
Air; The reaction temperature of 40◦ C.)
In the anode chamber, the change of electrolyte flow rate can cause
distinct change of current density, as shown in Fig. 6. The figure shows It can be seen from Fig. 7 that the removal rate of SO2 was higher
that current density increased with increasing anolyte flowrate for a under low velocity, partly because the gas stream converted to small
given voltage. Also the effective electrical resistance decreased with bubbles and distributed in the absorption solution, then mixed with the
increasing anolyte flowrate. electrolytic solution along the gas rise direction. Gas-liquid contact
In the anode chamber, the increased electrolyte flow rate reduced area increased in the process of gas flow and it had more resident time
the concentration polarization and the bubble effect, and then the num- in the reactor under lower gas flow rate. What’s more, the absorption
ber of ions migrate through the membrane in the reactor increased of SO2 is enhanced. Therefore, the removal efficiency decreased with
accordingly. Experiment showed that the current density through the the increase in the gas flow rate under constant liquid flow rate.
reactor increased with increasing electrolyte flow rate when voltage It can be further observed from Fig. 8 that the decrease in removal
was constant. Outlet SO2 concentration increased significantly with efficiency of SO2 was more obvious with the increase of gas flow rate
increasing flow rate, and increasing flow rate can increase the number in lower current densities. Therefore, higher current density should be
of extra power consumption. In order to maintain balanced pressure applied at higher gas flow rate. This can be explained in the way that
on both sides of the membrane and increase energy efficiency without the increase in gas flow rate and the decrease in gas residence time
making the SO2 removal efficiency decreased significantly, the elec- reduce gas-to-liquid mass transfer rate. Higher gas flow rate resulted
trolyte flow rate should be 100 ml/min both in the anode chamber and in lower removal efficiency due to the increase resistance and the
the cathode chamber. decrease current density.
Gas flow rate.—The gas flow rate related to the volume of the reactor Gas composition.—The content of carbon dioxide and air in flue gases
(space velocity) is a very important economic viability parameter for should be taken into account in the development of the equipment
absorption process. Fig. 7 represented the SO2 outlet concentration for desulfurization of waste gases. In order to determine the effects
profiles under the function of gas flow rate. After 100 min electrolysis of these gases in electrochemical SO2 absorption, gas mixtures of
the outlet concentration of SO2 decreased from 1100 to 180 ppm at SO2 + air, SO2 + CO2 , SO2 + N2 , SO2 + CO2 + air were fed
50 mL/min and to 400 ppm at 200 mL/min. to the electrochemical absorption column. Variation of outlet SO2
concentration from different gas compositions were shown in Fig. 9.
Figure 7. The change with the gas flow rate. (SO2 concentration of 1100 ppm; Figure 9. Variation of outlet SO2 concentration from different compo-
Current density of 40 mA/cm2 ; Electrolyte flow of 100 mL/min; Components nents of gas mixture. (SO2 concentration of 1100 ppm; Electrolyte flow of
of gas is SO2 + Air; The reaction temperature of 40◦ C.) 100 mL/min; Gas flow rate of 50 mL/min; The reaction temperature of 40◦ C.)
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Journal of The Electrochemical Society, 162 (9) E141-E147 (2015) E145
Figure 10. The relationship between outlet SO2 concentration and its initial Figure 11. Outlet SO2 concentration under the function of temperature (SO2
concentration. (Current density of 40 mA/cm2 ; Electrolyte flow of 100 mL/min; concentration of 1100 ppm;gas flow rate of 50 mL/min; electrolyte flow of
Gas flow rate of 50 mL/min; Components of gas is SO2 + Air; The reaction 100 mL/min; current density of 40 mA/cm2 .)
temperature of 40◦ C.)
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E146 Journal of The Electrochemical Society, 162 (9) E141-E147 (2015)
Figure 14. Concentration effect of H2 SO4 in the anode compartment with different concentrations sulfuric acid (a chart 1%, b chart 10%, c chart 15%, d chart
20%).
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Journal of The Electrochemical Society, 162 (9) E141-E147 (2015) E147
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