TECHNICAL AND ECONOMICAL ASPECTS OF SO2 AND NOX REMOVAL FROM FLUE GAS BY ELECTRON BEAM IRRADIATION

Abstract

The emission of sulfur dioxide (SO2, also SO3) and nitrogen oxides (NO, NO2, called NOx) from fossil fuel burning power and industrial plants is one of the major sources of environmental pollution. These pollutants are named as "acid gases" causing acid rain and also "indirect greenhouse gases" contributing greenhouse effect. Acid rain damages forest, agriculture fields and flora, and cause public health concerns in regions having a number of industrial plants. Today, many countries have started to impose industrial emission limits and this movement has generated renewed interest in finding viable and cost effective solutions to SO2 and NOx pollution control. The conventional technologies, wet scrubbing de-SO2 and de-NOx, now reached their full potential therefore these methods are not expected to provide further improvements in terms of efficiency or reduction in construction costs. However, new technologies are being investigated for industrial scale commercial viability. One of them is electron beam process, which is dry scrubbing process and simultaneously removes SO2 and NOx, and useful by-product for agriculture fertilizer. In this study, the economical and technical aspects of electron beam flue gas treatment process are discussed. Because an electron accelerator facility with electron beam energy of 500 KeV and electron beam current of 20 mA will be installed at ANRTC in TURKEY.