Sulfur dioxide, from burning fuels

The annual production of sulfur dioxide from burning coal and fossil fuels, auto exhaust, and other sources is about 26 million tons. The equation for the reaction is... 

An industrial atmosphere is characterized by pollution composed mainly of sulfur compoimds such as sulfur dioxide (SO ), a precursor to acid rain, and nitrogen oxides (NO ), the backbone of smog in modern dties. Sulfur dioxide from burning coal or other fossil fuels is picked up by moisture on dust particles as sulfurous add. This is oxidized by some catalytic process on the dust particles to sulfuric acid, which settles in microscopic droplets and fall as acid rain on exposed surfaces. The result is that contaminants in an industrial atmosphere, plus dew or fog, produce a highly corrosive, wet, acid film on exposed surfaces. 

Removal of sulfur dioxide from a gas stream. If a fuel that contains sulfur is burned, the product gas contains sulfur dioxide. If the gas is released directly into the atmosphere, the SO2 combines with atmospheric oxygen to form sulfur trioxide. The SO3 in turn combines with water vapor in the atmosphere to form sulfuric acid (H7SO4), which eventually precipitates as acid rain. To prevent this occurrence, the combustion product gas is contacted with a liquid solution in an absorption or scrubbing process. The SO2 dissolves in the solvent and the clean gas that remains is released to the atmosphere. 

Sulfur dioxide is formed whenever sulfur-containing fuels are combusted in air. Sulfur dioxide can lead to the formation of acid rain and is a controlled pollutant in most countries. U.S. 5,196,176, assigned to Paques B.V, describes a biological process for removing sulfur dioxide from a vent gas and converting it to elemental sulfur. Estimate the cost (in /kWh) of using the Paques process to treat the flue gas from a 1000 MW power station that burns Illinois Number 6 coal in pressurized fluidized bed combustors. 

The reaction products from the fuel must be gaseous so that they can be directly vented to the air. This eliminates the requirement for hardware to collect, store and return the spent solid or liquid reaction products. The product of the reaction of hydrogen with oxygen, from the air, is water. There is no carbon so no un-bumed hydrocarbons or toxic carbon monoxide is produced. All fossil fuels contain some amount of sulfur compounds. These are converted to sulfur dioxide when the fuel is burned. Most processes under consideration for the production of hydrogen are free from sulfur or any other harmful contaminants. Thus, unlike fossil fuel hydrocarbons, hydrogen combustion products will not be contaminated with sulfur compounds. 

Contrary to popular belief, acid rain is not a new phenomenon nor does it result solely from industrial pollution. Natural processes—volcanic eruptions and forest fires, for example—produce and release acid particles into the air, and the burning of foresf areas to clear land in Brazil, Africa, and other countries also contributes to acid rain however, the rise in manufacturing that began with the Industrial Revolution literally dwarfs all other contributions to the problem. The main culprits are emissions of sulfur dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels, such as oil and coal, and nitrogen oxide, formed mostly from internal combustion engine emissions, which is readily transformed into nitrogen dioxide. These mix in the atmosphere to form sulfuric acid and nitric acid. 

Flame Temperature. The adiabatic flame temperature, or theoretical flame temperature, is the maximum temperature attained by the products when the reaction goes to completion and the heat fiberated during the reaction is used to raise the temperature of the products. Flame temperatures, as a function of the equivalence ratio, are usually calculated from thermodynamic data when a fuel is burned adiabaticaHy with air. To calculate the adiabatic flame temperature (AFT) without dissociation, for lean to stoichiometric mixtures, complete combustion is assumed. This implies that the products of combustion contain only carbon dioxide, water, nitrogen, oxygen, and sulfur dioxide. 

The behavior of these pollution roses is intuitively plausible, because considerable hydrocarbon emissions come from motor vehicles which are operated in both winter and summer and travel throughout the urban area. On the other hand, sulfur dioxide is released largely from the burning of coal and fuel oil. Space heating emissions are high in winter and low in summer. The SO2 emissions in summer are probably due to only a few point sources, such as power plants, and result in low average concentrations from each direction as well as large directional variability. 

Acid deposition occurs when sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions are transformed in the atmosphere and return to the earth in rain, fog or snow. Approximately 20 million tons of SOj are emitted annually in the United States, mostly from the burning of fossil fuels by electric utilities. Acid rain damages lakes, harms forests and buildings, contributes to reduced visibility, and is suspected of damaging health. 

Sulfur dioxide A toxic and corrosive gas emitted continuously in dilute form, principally from the burning of fossil fuels. 

Acid rain is caused primarily by sulfur dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and natural gas. Sulfur is an impurity in these fuels for example, coal typically contains 2-3% by weight sulfur.1M Other sources of sulfur include the industrial smelting of metal sulfide ores to produce the elemental metal and, in some parts of the world, volcanic eruptions. When fossils fuels are burned, sulfur is oxidized to sulfur dioxide (SO2) and trace amounts of sulfur trioxide (SC>3)J21 The release of sulfur dioxide and sulfur trioxide emissions to the atmosphere is the major source of acid rain. These gases combine with oxygen and water vapor to form a fine mist of sulfuric acid that settles on land, on vegetation, and in the ocean. 

The goal of beneficiation is to remove as much sulfur from a fuel as possible before it is ever burned. When burned, fuel with lower sulfur content will produce less sulfur dioxide. Beneficiation is usually accomplished by a physical process that separates one form of sulfur, pyritic sulfur, from coal. Pyritic sulfur consists of sulfur minerals (primarily sulfides) that are not chemically bonded to coal in any way. The name is taken from the most common form of mineral sulfur usually found in coal, pyrite, or iron sulfide (FeS2). 

The pollutants which increased dramatically in converting from oil/gas to coal combustion are particulate matter and sulfur dioxide. State laws, especially those governing emissions in urban areas, specify limits for both species. They could be met when low sulfur fuel oil or gas was burned, but coal combustion required new or upgraded pollution control devices. To understand the problem of coping with both of these emissions, it is simpler to treat the response to particulate control separate from that of... 

Most of the sulfur in plants occurs in proteins, especially in the amino acids cysteine and methionine. Other essential compounds that contain sulfur are coenzyme A, a compound essential for cellular respiration and for the synthesis and breakdown of fatty acids, and the vitamins thiamine and biotin. Sulfur can be absorbed by leaves as gaseous sulfur dioxide, S02, an environmental pollutant released from active volcanoes and from the burning of wood or fossil fuels. 

Worldwide, the amount of energy available from coal is estimated to be about ten times greater than the amount available from all petroleum and natural gas reserves combined. Coal is also the filthiest fossil fuel because it contains large amounts of such impurities as sulfur, toxic heavy metals, and radioactive isotopes. Burning coal is therefore one of the quickest ways to introduce a variety of pollutants into the air. More than half of the sulfur dioxide and about 30 percent of the nitrogen oxides released into the atmosphere by humans come from the combustion of coal. As with other fossil fuels, the combustion of coal also produces large amounts of carbon dioxide. 

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