A Dynamic Study on the Impacts of Water Vapor and Impurities on Limestone Calcination and CaO Sulfurization Processes in a Microfluidized Bed Reactor Analyzer

In-furnace desulfurization technology is usually used in circulating fluidized bed (CFB) boilers, and natural limestone is the most common calcium-based sorbent for sulfur removal. Limestone desulfurization could be influenced by water vapor in the flue gas and also impurities such as SiO2, Al2O3, and Fe2O3 contained in the natural limestone. The limestone desulfurization process can be divided into two steps: calcination to produce CaO and sulfurization of CaO formed. This paper studies the impacts of water vapor and impurities on the limestone calcination and sulfurization of CaO calcined in a microfluidized bed reactor analyzer (MFBRA). The apparent activation energy under different operating conditions was first calculated, and then the influence of water vapor and impurities on the activation energy was preliminarily discussed. The results show that reaction temperature, water vapor, and impurities all have influences on the indirect desulfurization of limestone under the condition of standard pressu...