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ergamon Chemic al Enqineering Science Vol. 51, No. 16, pp. 3889 389 6, 1996Copyright ,~; 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd
Printed in Great Britain. All rights reservedP I I : S0009-2509(96)00222-9 0009 2509/96 $15.00 + 0.00
UNCATALYZED HETEROGENEOUS OXIDATION OF
CALCIUM BISULFITE
AMEDE O LANCIA,* DINO MUSMARRA* and FRANCE SCO P EPE ~
* Dipartimento di Ingegneria Chimica, Universit~idi Napoli Federico II , P.le Tecchio 80,80125 Napoli, Italy
t Istituto di Ricerche sulla Combustione, C.N.R., P.le Tecchio 80, 80125 Napoli, Italy: Facoll~i di Scienze Ambientali, Seconda Universitfi di Napoli, Via Arena 22, 81100 Caserta, Italy
F i r s t r e c e i v e d 8 A u g u s t 1995; r e v i se d m a n u s c r i p t r e c e i v e d a n d a c c e p t e d 1 F e b r u a r y 1996)
Abstract--Wet limestone scrubbing is the most common flue gas desulfurization process for control ofsulfur dioxide emissionsfrom combustion of fossil fuels. Forced oxidation in the scrubber loop improves thedewatering properties of the sludge, leading to the formation of gypsum (CaSO4.2H20). A literature
analysis revealed that uncertainties on the mechanisms of the oxidation reaction and on the values of thekinetic parameters still remain. In the present work the oxidation rate was experimentally studied bycontacting pure oxygen or mixtures of oxygen and nitrogen with a calcium bisulflte solution. Theexperiments were carried out in a well-mixedbubbling reactor varying temperature, oxygen partial pressureand sulfite concentration, in the absence of solid calcium sulfite and of catalytic species. It was shown thatthe rate of the process is controlled by reaction kinetics, and that the reaction rate is zero order in dissolvedoxygen and 3/2-order in bisulfite ion. Copyright ~) 1996 Elsevier Science Ltd
I N T R O D U C T I O N
Desulfur ization of flue gas is required in order
to minimize the impact of the combustion of fossil
fuels on the env ironm ent. Wet limestone scrubbingis the flue gas desulfurization (FGD) process which
has reached the widest diffusion. This process re-
quires, downstream of the absorber, a hold tank
where crystallization of CaSO3 and CaSO4 and dis-
solution of make-up CaCO3 occur. Forced oxidation
of sulfite in the hold t ank allows the main prob lem of
the process to be solved i.e. the disposal of the solid
by-product, a sludge composed of calcium sulfite and
sulfate.
Forced oxida tion is carried out by injecting air into
the liquid phase, so that the following reactions take
place:
HSO3- + ½02 = SO~- + H + (1)
s o l - k o a = s o l - . (2)
The kinetics of such reactions, and particularly of
the absor ption of oxygen by basic solutions of sodium
sulfite in presence of catalysts, received much atten-
tion during the last 30 years; Linek and Vacek (1981)
presented a detailed review of the literature for the
period 1960-1980. The researchers who studied
the reaction of sulfite oxidation pointed out theextreme sensitivity of its kinetics to experimental
conditions, which often prevented the achievement
of reproducible results. It has been shown that
liquid-phase composit ion (sulfite concentrat ion, dis-
solved oxygen, pH), temperature, and the presence,
even in traces, of catalysts ( C o 2 + , C u 2 + , Mn 2+) and
inhibitors (alcohols, phenols, hydroquinone) strongly
affect the reaction rate.
The kinetics of sulfite oxidation were studied inhomogeneous conditions or in heterogeneous condi-
tions. Results for homogeneous conditions, obtained
by contacting a sulfite solution with an oxygen
saturat ed solut ion, are relatively consistent, indica ting
a 3/2-order dependence from sulfite and a zero-order
dependence from oxygen, both in the absence and in
the presence of catalysts (Barton and O'Hern, 1966;
Matsuura e t a l . , 1969; Chen and Barron, 1972; Mishra
and Srivastava, 1975, 1976; Bengtsson and Bjerle,
1975). The dependence of the reaction rate on the
catalyst concentration is more uncertain; while the
reaction rate is proportional to the square root of theconcentra tion of Co 2+ or Mn 2+, the description of
the catalytic activity of copper appears more difficult
(Greenhalg e t a l . , 1975).
On the basis of the results reported in the literature,
Biickstrom [1934; see also Hayon e t a l . (1972)] pro-
posed a chain react ion mechanism which leads to the
following rate equation:
_ _ b . A / 2 ~ 3 / 2I . . . M t~ S ( IV) (3 )
where r is the reaction rate expressed as moles
of SO ] - produced per unit time and volume, k is the
kinetic constant, c u the catalyst concentration, andCs~iv) the total sulfite concen tration. On the other
hand, dis agreement exists for the values of the kinetic
constant evaluated at 25°C and of activation energy,
that were found in the ranges of 2× 106-35 x
106 m3/mol s and 50-150 k J/tool, respectively.
3889
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3890
T h e s t u d y o f s u l f i t e o x i d a t i o n i n h e t e r o g e n e o u s
c o n d i t i o n s r e ce i v e d m u c h a t t e n t i o n i n th e l a s t
d e c a d e , s i n c e th e s e c o n d i t i o n s a r e c l o s e r t o t h o s e
e n c o u n t e r e d i n F G D p r o c e s s e s , w h e r e t h e r e a c t i o n i s
c a r r i e d o u t b y b u b b l i n g a i r i n t o a s o l u t i o n s a t u r a t e d
w i t h r e s p e c t t o c a l c i u m s u l f i t e a t p H 3 . 5 - 5 ( L a n c i a e t
a l . , 1 99 3) . I n F G D p l a n t s , d u e t o t h e l o w e r p H , t h e
p r e v a i l i n g s u l f u r o u s s p e c i e s i s b i s u l f i t e i o n H S O 3
i n s t e a d o f s u l f i t e i o n S O Z 3 - ; b e s i d e s , s i n c e c a l c i u m
s u l f it e s o l u b i l i t y i s q u i t e l o w , t h e c o n c e n t r a t i o n s i n -
v o l v e d i n th e r e a c t i o n a r e l o w e r t h a n t h o s e t a k e n i n t o
a c c o u n t b y t h e r e se a r c h e r s w h o w o r k e d w i t h s o d i u m
sul f i t e .
S o m e o f t h e r e s u l t s r e l a t i v e t o s u l f it e o x i d a t i o n i n
c o n d i t i o n s ty p i c a l o f F G D p r o c e s se s a r e r e p o r t e d i n
T a b l e 1. T h e t a b l e s h o w s t h a t t h e i n t e r p r e t a t i o n o f t h e
e x p e r i m e n t a l r e s u l t s i s s o m e w h a t c o n t r a d i c t o r y .
P r o b a b l y , t h i s is d u e t o t h e i n t e r a c t i o n s b e t w e e n t h e
r e a c t i o n s t e p s o n t h e o n e s i d e , a n d t h e d i f f u s i v e t r a n s -
p o r t o f r e a c ta n t s , p r o d u c t s a n d c a t a l y s ts o n t h e o t h e r
( S h u l t z a n d G a d e n , 1 9 56 ).
W i t h t h e a i m o f g a t h e r i n g a b e t t e r u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f
t h e f u n d a m e n t a l p h e n o m e n a i n v o l v e d i n f o rc e d o x i -
d a t i o n , i n t h e p r e s e n t p a p e r t h e a t t e n t i o n i s fo c u s e d o n
t h e k i n e t ic s o f t h e o x i d a t i o n r e a c t i o n i n c o n d i t i o n s o f
p H a n d t e m p e r a t u r e c o m p a r a b l e t o t h o s e e n c o u n -
t e r e d i n t h e w e t l i m e s t o n e F G D p r o c e s s . A n e x p e r i -
m e n t a l w o r k o n c a l c i u m s u l fi te o x i d a t i o n is p r e s e n t e d ,
i n w h i c h p u r e o x y g e n o r m i x t u r e s o f o x y g e n
a n d n i t r o g e n a r e c o n t a c t e d w i t h a c le a r s o l u t i o n o f
c a l c i u m s u l f i t e , a n d t h e r e s u l t s o f s u c h w o r k a r e u s e d
t o o b t a i n a k i n e t i c e q u a t i o n f o r t h e r a t e o f u n -
c a t a l y z e d s u l f i t e o x i d a t i o n . T h e i n t e r a c t i o n s b e t w e e no x y g e n m a s s t r a n s f e r a n d s u l f i t e o x i d a t i o n a r e d e -
s c r i b e d u s i n g t h e w e l l- a s se s s e d t h e o r y o f m a s s t r a n s fe r
w i t h c h e m i c a l r e a c t i o n ( D a n c k w e r t s , 1 9 7 0 ; C h a r p e n -
t ier , 1981).
A . L A N C I A et a l .
b o t h g a s a n d l i q u i d p h a s e . T h e r e a c t o r , m a d e o f
P y r e x g l a s s , i s a j a c k e t e d , 0 . 1 3 m I D c y l i n d e r w i t h
a h e m i s p h e r i c a l b o t t o m , f i t t e d w i t h t w o v e r t i c a l
b a f fl e s a n d a l i q u i d o v e r f l o w . A n a x i a l s t i r r e r w a s u s e d
t o p r o v i d e t h o r o u g h m i x i n g in th e l i q u i d p h as e . T h e
s t i r r e r s p e e d n w a s k e p t c o n s t a n t i n t h e e x p e r i m e n t s
as 13.3 s 1.
T h e g a s p h a s e w a s p u r e o x y g e n o r m i x t u r e s o f
o x y g e n a n d n i t r o g e n w i th o x y g e n c o n c e n t r a t i o n s o f
4 0 o r 2 1 % ; i t w as t a k e n f r o m c y l i n d e r s a n d b u b b l e d a t
t h e b o t t o m o f t h e r e a c t o r. T h e v o l u m e t r i c f lo w r a t e o f
t h e g a s f e d t o t h e r e a c t o r , m e a s u r e d b y a r o t a m e t e r ,
w a s k e p t c o n s t a n t a t 1 .3 9 × 1 0 - 4 m 3 / s . S u c h g a s f lo w
r a t e , in c o n j u n c t i o n w i t h t h e s t i r r e r s p e e d o f 1 3 .3 s 1 ,
g a v e a l i q u i d h o l d u p V o f 3 . 9 × 1 0 - 4 m 3 . T h e l i q u i d
p h a s e w a s a c l e a r s o l u t i o n p r e p a r e d b y d i s s o l v i n g
a n a l y t i c a l - g r a d e c a l c iu m h y d r o x i d e i n t o a n a l y t i c a l -
g r a d e s u l f u r d io x i d e s o l u t i o n a n d b y d i l u t i n g w i t h
b i d i st i ll e d w a t e r. T h e C a 2 + c o n c e n t r a t i o n r a n g e d
f r o m 1 to 8 0 m o l / m 3, w h i l e th e t o t a l S ( I V ) c o n c e n t r a -
t i o n r a n g e d f r o m 1 t o 1 60 m o l / m 3 , w i t h t h e p H i n t h e
r a n g e o f 2 . 5 - 3 . 5 . T h e l i q u i d f l o w r a t e L w a s k e p t
c o n s t a n t i n e a c h e x p e r i m e n t a n d i t w a s v a r i e d u s i n g
a p e r i s t a l t ic p u m p f r o m 2 . 5 7 t o 1 3 .6 × 1 0 7 m 3 / s , c o r -
r e s p o n d i n g t o r e s id e n c e t i m e s in t o t h e r e a c t o r, w i t h
r v a r y i n g f r o m 2 9 0 t o 1 5 4 0 s . T h r e e d i f f e r e n t te m p e r -
a t u r e l e v e ls w e r e e x p l o re d , o f 2 5, 4 5 a n d 6 3 C , u s i n g
t h e t h e r m o s t a t i c b a t h .
T h e p r o d u c t b e t w e e n t h e l i q u i d s i d e m a s s t r a n s f e r
c o e f f i c i e n t a n d t h e s p e c i f i c g a s - l i q u i d i n t e r f a c i a l a r e a
k ° a w a s e v a l u a t e d b y m e a n s o f t h e f o l l o w i n g d i m e n -
s i o n l e s s e q u a t i o n , e x p e r i m e n t a l l y o b t a i n e d b y
A n s e l m i e t a l . ( 1 9 84 ) u s i n g a r e a c t o r s i m i l a r t o t h e o n eus e d he r e :
k ° a d e _ =o
D \ a / \ v /4 )
E X P E R IM E N T A L A P P A R A T U S A N D P R O C E D U R E
T h e r a t e o f s u l fi te o x i d a t i o n w a s m e a s u r e d u s i n g
t h e l a b o r a t o r y - s c a l e a p p a r a t u s s k e t c h e d i n F i g . 1 . S u c h
a p p a r a t u s c o n s i s t s o f a t h e r m o s t a t e d s t i r r e d r e a c t o r
w i t h l in e s f o r c o n t i n u o u s fe e d i n g a n d d i s c h a r g i n g o f
I n t h is e q u a t i o n d i s th e r e a c t o r i n t e r n a l d i a m e t e r ,
v~ i s t he s up e r f i c i a l ve l o c i t y o f t he g a s , D i s t he O 2
d i f f u s i v i ty i n w a t e r , a n d / ~ , v a n d o a r e t h e v i s c o s i ty ,
t h e k i n e m a t i c v i s c o s i t y a n d t h e s u r f a c e t e n s i o n o f
w a t e r , r es p e c ti v e ly . U s i n g d a t a t a k e n f r o m B i r d e t a l .
Table 1 . Li te ra ture resul ts for the sul fi te ox ida t ion k ine tics in FG D con di t ions
T S( IV) 02 H + M n 2 +A ut ho r s ( C ) pH o r de r o r de r o r de r o r de r
Weisnicht e t a l . (1980) 40 4.6--5.0 3/2 . . . . .Pas iuk-Bronikowska and Bronikowski
( 1981) 4 0 <3 0 0 -1 - 1 0 0 2H us s e t a l . (1982) 25 1-4 (~1 0 1-2Pas iuk -Broniko wska and Zia jka (1985) 26 1 .5 0 1 2U l r i c h e t a l . (1986) 25 75 ~ 5 0 0~1 1/2Pas iuk-Bronikowska and Bronikowski
(1989) 26 3.9-4.8 0 1 0
26 4.8 6.6 3/2 0 1/2Pas iuk-B ronikow ska and Zia jka (1989) 26 4 .5 6 .0 3 /2 0 0 1 /2
26 3.8-4.2 0 1 0 0
N o t e : The da sh indica tes tha t the depend ence i s no t s tudied.
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Uncatalyzed heterogeneous oxidation of calcium bisulfite
eactor
F Feed tank
D Discharge tankC Temperature controllerAn SO2 analyzerT Water trap
Fig. 1. Sketch of the experimental apparatus.
- ' ' A~-
3891
(1960) and from Perry and Chilton (1973), k ° a was
found to be equal to 1 .74x1 0 -z, 5 .88x1 0 2 and
1.16 x 10 - t s- t at 25, 45 an d 63°C, respectively.
At the begin ning of each experiment, as soon as theliquid in the reactor reached the overflow, agitation
was started and the gas stream was introduced . It was
assumed that steady state was reached after a time
longer than 5r had elapsed. The oxidation rate at
steady state was evaluated by measuring, in the inlet
and in the outlet liquid streams, the total sulfate
concentration. Furthermore, in both streams the con-
centra tions of total sulfite and Ca 2 + ion were meas-
ured. Total sulfite concentration was measured by
iodometric titration using starch as an indicator,
Ca 2+ ion conc entration was measured by EDTA ti-
trat ion using muresside as an ind icator, while the totalsulfate concent ration was measured by means of a tur-
bidimeter (Hach DR/3) at 450 nm wavelength. Since
the gas fed to the reactor removes part of the sulfite as
SO2, the sulfur material balance was checked by
measuring the SO2 concentration in the outlet gas
stream by means of an UV analyzer (Hartmann and
Brown Radas 1G), and a difference not larger than
5% was found.
R E S U L T S A N D D I S C U S S I O N
The experimental results are reported in Tables
2-6. Namely, in Tables 2 4 there are the results of
experiments carried out using pure oxygen in the gas
phase, at liquid-phase temperatures of 25, 45, and
63°C, respectively, while in Tables 5 and 6 there are
the results relative to expreriments carried out using
mixtures of oxygen and nitrogen as gas phase at
a liquid tempera ture of 45°C, with oxygen concentra -
tions of 40 and 21%, respectively. In each table, to-gether with the reaction rate, the total concentrations
of sulfite, sulfate and calcium, are also reported.
Since sulfite oxidation interacts with gas-liquid dif-
fusive transport of oxygen, the analysis of the experi-
mental results is made complex by the problem of
finding out whether oxygen absorption takes place in
the fas t r eac t ion reg im e or in the dif fus ional or k ine t ic
reac t ion subregim es . With this aim it is necessary to
compare the experimentally measured reac tion rate to
the rate characteristic of the diffusional subregime, ro
since, if the reaction rate r is definitely greater than ro
it can be assumed that the process takes place in thefast react ion regime, while if r is definitely smaller than
rD, it can be assumed that the process takes place
in the kinetic subregime. The diffusional rate, con-
sidering that the oxidat ion reaction is irreversible, can
be evaluated by means of the following equation
(Astarita, 1967):
rD = 2k~ac~2 (5)
i is the interfacial oxygen concen trati on. Us-here c%
ing the values o f k ° a calculated by means ofeq. (4) and
i given by Henry' s law, the valueshe values of Co2
reported in Table 7 are obtained for rD.
With few exceptions the reaction rates reported in
Tables 2-6 are smaller tha n the diffusional rates,
and this indicates that the process takes place in the
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3 8 9 2 A . LA N CIA e t a l
T a b l e 2 . E x p e r i m e n t a l r e s u l ts w i t h p u r e o x y g e n a n d l i q u id t e m p e r a t u r e o f
2 5 C
Cs(iv CS(VI CCa + r X 103N O . ( m o l / m 3 ) ( m o l / m 3 ) ( m o l / m 3 ) ( m o l / m 3 s )
1 1 2 6 1.87 7.2 1 4 2
2 13.2 2 .54 7.6 1 .24
3 1 2 .3 2 .5 0 7 .0 0 .9 5
4 45 .0 2 .1 9 2 2 .0 2 .8 35 24.4 2 .83 12 .6 2 .21
6 3 5 .0 4 .8 3 2 1 .4 3 .9 2
7 27.2 8 .83 21 .0 4.86
8 5 .3 1 .44 2 .6 0 .08
9 5 6 .0 6 .49 3 3 .0 9 .1 9
1 0 6 2 .2 6 .8 8 3 6 .0 9 .6 9
T a b l e 3 . E x p e r i m e n t a l r e s u l t s w i t h p u r e o x y g e n a n d l i q u i d t e m p e r a t u r e o f
4 5 ° C
N O . CS(IV CS(VI CCa2+ r )< 103
( m o l / m 3 ) ( m o l / m 3 ( m o l / m 3 ) ( m o l / m 3 s )
11 2 .2 1 .00 1 .9 0 .64
12 25.5 11 .3 20 .5 18 .1
13 11.8 3 .53 8 .0 3 .69
14 30.5 17.4 30 .0 28 .9
15 6.3 1.52 3.7 1.18
T a b l e 4 . E x p e r i m e n t a l r e s u l t s w i t h p u r e o x y g e n a n d l i q u i d te m p e r a t u r e
o f 6 3 ° C
CS(IV CS(VI CCa + r × 103N o . ( m o l / m 3 ) ( m o l / m a ) ( m o l / m 3 ) ( m o l / m 3 s )
1 6 3 .6 3 .8 3 4 .0 5 .1 7
17 1 .6 3 .14 2 .7 1 .83
18 6 .0 12 .2 13 .5 21 .0
19 6 .5 6 .67 7.8 10 .7
20 5 .2 12 .7 13 .5 22 .1
T a b l e 5 . E x p e r i m e n t a l r e s u lt s w i t h 4 0 % o x y g e n a n d l iq u i d t e m p e r a t u r e o f
4 5 C
N o . C s ( i v } C s ( v i CCa2 + r × 10 3( m o l / m 3 ( m o l / m 3 ) ( m o l / m 3 ( m o l / m 3 s )
21 3 .48 1 .47 2 .7 0 .63
2 2 5 .8 9 3 .0 7 5 .40 1 .44
2 3 2 .0 8 0 .5 4 1 .35 0 .43
2 4 7 .5 7 2 .1 5 5 .40 2 .51
2 5 1 0 .7 4 .5 9 8 .9 5 4 .2 92 6 3 .73 0 .6 0 2 .2 0 .70
27 6 .28 1 .28 5 .40 1 .60
28 12.11 3 .07 8 .65 5 .18
29 16.93 6 .14 12 .67 8 .42
3 0 72 .0 5 3 0 .6 9 5 4 .0 5 5 3 .70
3 1 8 9 .2 0 2 9 .3 7 70 .0 0 5 3 .0 0
k i n e t i c s u b r e g i m e . H o w e v e r , i t h a s t o b e o b s e r v e d t h a t
f o r th e h i g h e s t s u l f i t e c o n c e n t r a t i o n s t h e a b s o r p t i o n
r a t e s a r e q u i t e c l o s e t o t h e l i m i t i n g d i f f u s i o n a l r a t e s ,
c o n f i r m i n g t h e e x is t e n c e o f a b o u n d a r y a t t h e
t r a n s i t i o n b e t w e e n t h e k i n e ti c a n d t h e d i f fu s i o n a l s u b -
r e g i m e s . I n o r d e r t o f i n d a k i n e t i c e q u a t i o n f o r t h e
r e a c t i o n c o n s i d e r e d , i t i s n e c e s s a r y t o s p e c i a t e t h e
s o l u t i o n c o m p o s i t i o n . W i t h t h i s a i m t h e e q u i l i b r i u m
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Unca t a l yz ed he t e r oge neous ox i da t i on o f c a l c ium b isu lf it e
Tab l e 6 . Ex pe r i me n t a l r es u lt s w i t h 21% ox ygen a nd l i q u id t empe r a t u r e o f4 5° C
C s ( l v ) C s ( v l ) C c a 2 + r X 1 0 3
No . (mo l /m 3) (mo l /m 3) (mo l /m 3) (mo l /m 3 s )
32 1.20 2.35 5.40 2.8233 2.36 0.53 1.27 0.2734 3.91 1.91 2.65 0.95
35 2.36 0.59 1.23 0.2036 7.3 3.21 5.45 3.6637 4.11 1.48 2.47 1.2738 7.60 2.74 5.40 3.3939 4.84 1.90 3.38 1.6040 7.77 3.85 6.50 2.9741 12.37 8.66 14.34 6.0542 22.15 13.08 2 2.22 11.6043 31.02 12.08 27.76 15.5044 42.41 17.13 35.15 21.7045 152.00 15.78 75.67 20.5046 95.70 13.53 54.05 19.10
3893
Tab l e 7 . D i f fu s i ona l r a t e s eva l ua t ed b y means o feqs (4) and (5)
02 ga s - pha seT concen t r a t i on , r ~
(°C) d imens ionless (mo l /m 3 s )
25 100% 4.42 x 10 245 100% 0.11763 100% 0.20245 40% 4 .68 x l0 -z45 21% 2.45 x 10 -z
e q u a t i o n s f o r t h e f o l l o w i n g r e a c t i o n s w e r e u t i l i z e d ( s ee
t h e a p p e n d i x ) :
SO2( aq ) + H 2 0 = H + + H S O ~ - ( 6)
H S O ; = H + + S O 2 - (7 )
H S O ~ - = H + + S O 2 - ( 8)
H 2 0 = H + + O H - (9 )
f o r w h i c h t h e v a l u e s o f t h e t h e r m o d y n a m i c e q u i l i b -
r i u m c o n s t a n t s w e r e c a lc u l a t e d u s i n g d a t a r e p o r t e d b y
G o l d b e r g a n d P a r k e r ( 1 9 8 5 ) [ r e a c t i o n s ( 6 ) a n d ( 7 ) ]
a n d b y B r e w e r ( 1 98 2 ) [ r e a c t i o n s ( 8 ) a n d ( 9 )] . T o g e t h e rw i t h t h e e q u i l i b r i u m e q u a t i o n s r e l a t i v e t o r e a c t i o n s
( 6 ) - ( 9 ) , t h e s t o i c h i o m e t r i c e q u a t i o n s f o r t o t a l s u l f i t e
a n d t o t a l s u l f a t e c o n c e n t r a t i o n s a n d t h e e l e c t r o -
n e u t r a l i t y e q u a t i o n w e r e c o n s i d e r e d :
Cso . . .. + Cnso~ + Cso~ = Csav) (10)
Cnso~ + Cso~- = Cslvlj (11)
~ I z l c l = 0 (12)
w h e r e z t i s t h e e l e c t r i c c h a r g e o f t h e 1 s p e c i e s , w i t h
I = C a 2 + , H +, H S O £ , S O 2 - , H S O g , S O 42 -, O H - .
T h e c o n c e n t r a t i o n s e v a l u a t e d b y m e a n s o f e q s( 6 ) - ( 1 2 ) w e r e u s e d i n a r e g r e s s i o n a n a l y s i s t o f i n d
a p o w e r - l a w k i n e t i c e q u a t i o n f o r b i s u l f i t e o x i d a t i o n .
B y m e a n s o f t h is a n a l y s i s it w a s c o n c l u d e d t h a t t h e
o n l y s p e c i e s s ig n i f i c a n t l y a f f e c t in g t h e o x i d a t i o n r a t e i s
t h e b i s u lf i te i o n H S O 3 , t h a t t h e r e a c t i o n i s o f o r d e r
3 / 2 i n s u c h i o n , a n d t h a t t h e a c t i v a t i o n e n e r g y E i s
8 6 k J / m o l , a c c o r d i n g t o t h e f o l l o w i n g e q u a t i o n :
- t . ~ ~mT~ 3/2 (13)r - - / x, o ~ LHSO ~
w h e r e k o i s t h e p r e e x p o n e n t i a l f a c t o r , t h e v a l u e o f
wh i ch i s 1 .95 × 10 l ° m 3 / Z / mo l 1 /2 s .
I n F i g s 2 a n d 3 t h e r e a c t i o n r a t e i s r e p o r t e d o n
a l o g a r i t h m i c p lo t a s a f u n c ti o n o f H S O 3 c o n c e n t r a -
t i o n ; in p a r t i c u l a r , F i g . 2 r e f e rs t o t h e r u n s c a r r i e d o u t
u s i n g p u r e o x y g e n a n d v a r y i n g t h e e x p e r i m e n t a l t e m -
p e r a t u r e , w h i l e F i g . 3 re f e rs t o t h e r u n s c a r r i e d o u t a t4 5 ° C w i t h d i f fe r e n t o x y g e n p a r t i a l p r e s s u r e s. I n F i g . 2 ,
t o g e t h e r w i t h t h e e x p e r i m e n t a l r e s u l t s , t h r e e s t r a i g h t
l i n es o f s l o p e 3 / 2 , o b t a i n e d f r o m t h e k i n e t i c l a w
[ E q . ( 1 3) ] c o n s i d e r i n g t h e t h r e e t e m p e r a t u r e s o f 2 5 ,
4 5 , 6 3~ 'C a r e r e p o r t e d . O n t h e o t h e r h a n d , i n F i g . 3
j u s t o n e s i n g l e s t ra i g h t l i n e i s c a p a b l e o f d e s c r i b i n g t h e
e x p e r i m e n t a l r e s u l ts r e l a t iv e t o p u r e o x y g e n a n d t o
t h e m i x t u r e s c o n t a i n i n g 4 0 a n d 2 1 % o x y g e n , c o n f i r m -
i n g t h a t s u l f i t e o x i d a t i o n i s z e r o o r d e r i n o x y g e n .
H o w e v e r in s u c h a f i g u re , t o g e t h e r w i t h t h e l i n e r e l a -
t i v e t o e q . ( 13 ), t h r e e s t r a i g h t l i n e s a r e a l s o r e p o r t e d
r e l a t i v e t o t h e d i f f u s i o n a l r a t e s c o r r e s p o n d i n g t o1 0 0 , 4 0 , a n d 2 1 % o x y g e n , o b t a i n e d f r o m t h e v a l u e s
r e p o r t e d i n T a b l e 7 . S u c h l i n e s c l e a r l y in d i c a t e t h a t
t h e d i f f u s i o n a l r a t e c o n s t i t u t e s a n u p p e r l i m i t f o r t h e
o x i d a t i o n r a t e a t t h e t r a n s i t i o n b e t w e e n t h e k i n e t i c
a n d t h e d i f f u s i o n a l s u b r e g i m e s .
T h e d e p e n d e n c e o f t h e r e a c t i o n r a te o n t h e c o n c e n -
t r a t io n s o f O 2 a n d H S O 3 i s i n a g r e e m e n t w i t h th e
r e s u l t s r e p o r t e d b y P a s i u k - B r o n i k o w s k a a n d Z i a j k a
( 1989 ) , W e i s n i ch t e t a l ( 1 9 8 0 ) , a n d P a s i u k -
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t h a t t h e o x i d a t i o n r e a c t i o n i s z e r o o r d e r i n d i ss o l v e d
o x y g e n a n d 3 / 2 - o r d e r i n b i s u l fi t e i o n . T h i s k i n e t i c
e q u a t i o n a p p e a r s t o c o n f i r m t h e c h a i n m e c h a n i s m
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u s e f u l t o a d d r e s s t h e f u t u r e w o r k t o w a r d a d e e p e r
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m o n F G D p r o c e s s e s , s t il l g r e a t u n c e r t a i n t y e x i s ts
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t h e a b s en c e o f c a t al y s ts . T h e c o m p a r i s o n b e t w e e n t h e
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c o n s i d e r e d , t h e r a t e o f u n c a t a l y z e d s u l fi t e o x i d a t i o n i s
c o n t r o l l e d b y t h e k i n e t i c s o f t h e r e a c t i o n i ts e lf , r a t h e r
t h a n b y d i f f u s io n a l p r o c e s s e s . T h e a n a l y s i s o f th e
e x p e r i m e n t a l r e s u l t s a l l o w e d u s t o i n d i v i d u a t e t h e
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t h a t t h e r e a c t i o n r a t e i s o f z e r o o r d e r i n d i s s o l v e d
o x y g e n . T h e r e s u l t s r e p o r t e d i n d i c a t e t h a t , e v e n w h e n
n o c a t a l y t i c s p e c i e s a r e p r e s e n t , a f i n i t e r e a c t i o n r a t e
f o r s u l f i t e o x i d a t i o n c a n b e o b s e r v e d . H o w e v e r , t h e
f a c t t h a t i n in d u s t r i a l a p p l i c a t i o n s s o m e m e t a l l i c i o n s
a r e p r e s e n t ( i. e. M n z + , F e z + , e t c .) , w h i c h c o m e a s
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A P P E N D I X
T h e c h e m i c a l r e a c t io n s t a k e n i n t o a c c o u n t c a n b e w r i tt e ni n t h e f o l l o w i n g g en e r a l f o r m :
~ x ~ 1 l = 0 ( A I )
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3 8 9 6 A . LA N C1 Ae t a l .
w h e r e s i i s t h e s t o i c h i o m e t r i c c o e f f i c ie n t o f t h e I s p e c i e s a n d
i s a s s u m e d p o s i ti v e f o r t h e r e a c t a n t s a n d n e g a t i v e f o r t h e
p r o d u c t s . T h e e q u i l i b r i u m c o n d i t i o n f o r r e a c t i o n ( A I ) is
K = I l l a l 5 , ( A 2 )
w h e r e a I i s t h e a c t i v i t y o f t h e 1 s p e c ie s .
T h e a c t i v it y a 1 i s r e la t e d t o t h e m o l a r c o n c e n t r a t i o n b y
a l = c i , , x (A 3 )
wh ere 3 , t i s t h e ac t i v i t y co e f f i c i en t .
V a l u e s o f t h e a c t i v it y c o e f f ic i e n ts fo r a n i o n s ( M ) a n d c a -
t i o n s (x ) c a n b e c a l c u l a t e d u s i n g t h e e x t e n d e d v e r s i o n o f t h e
D e b y e - H i i c k e l t h e o r y p r o p o s e d b y B r o m l e y a n d c o w o r k e r s
( A b d u l s a t t a r e t a l . , 1 97 7) . A c c o r d i n g t o t h o s e a u t h o r s i t i s
A,~z~a(F)1/2l o g ( T u ) = 1 + ( F )' ~ + B M ~ x c " + ~ x B xc x (A 4)
A~,ZM(F) t 2l o g (Tx) 1 + (F )' ~ + B x ~ M C M q- ~MBMCM (A 5 )
I n t h e s e e q u a t i o n s A~. i s t h e D e b y e H i J ck e l c o n s t a n t , t h e
v a l u e o f w h i c h i s g i v e n b y C o l i n e t a l . (1 9 80 ) , an d F i s t h e
T a b l e A 1 . D e b y e H i i c k e l p a r a -
m e t e r s f o r e q s ( A 4 ) a n d ( A 5 ) [ f r o m
A b d u l s a t t a r e t a l . (1 9 77)]
S p e c i e s B
H + 0 .0 8 7
O H - - 0 . 0 12
H S O 3 - 0 . 01 3
so~- 0.087H S O 4 - 0 . 01 3SO42 - - - 0 .09
C a 2 + - - 0 . 0 3 5
i o n i c s t r e n g t h , w h i c h c a n b e e v a l u a t e d b y m e a n s o f t h e
f o l lo w i n g e q u a t i o n :
= ~ y , , z~ c , . (A 6 )
T h e v a l u e s o f th e D e b y e - H i J c k e l p a r a m e t e r s B a r e r e -
p o r t e d i n T a b l e A 1 , ta k e n f r o m A b d u l s a t t a r e t a l . (1977).