Abstract: Two Canadian limestones with different properties were tested to determine the effect of SO2 during the carbonation of sorbent on the CO2 capture performance in Ca- looping. When the reaction gas is mixed with SO2, the carbonation ratio of the sorbent is always lower than that without SO2 for each cycle under the same conditions, and the sulfation ratio increases almost linearly with the increase in the cycle times. At 650 ℃, there is little difference in the carbonation ratio of the sorbent during the first four cycles for the two carbonation time, 5 and 10 rain at 0. 18% SO2. The indirect sulfation reaction that occurs simultaneously with the carbonation of CaO is responsible for the degradation of the sorbent for CO2 capture, and the carbonation duration is not the main factor that affects the ability of the sorbent. 680℃ is the best carbonation temperature among the three tested temperatures and the highest carbonation ratio can be obtained. Also, the sulfation ratio is the highest. The probable cause is the different effects of temperature on the carbonation rate and sulfation rate. A higher SO2 concentration will decrease the carbonation ratio clearly, but the decrease in the carbonation capability of the sorbent is not proportional to the increase of the SO2 concentration in flue gases.
The characteristics of the simultaneous calcination/ sulfation of limestone under oxy-fuel fluidized bed combustion were studied and compared with those of the sulfation of precalcined CaO. During the calcination stage, SO2 can react with product CaO and slow down the CaCO3 decomposition rate by the covering effect of the CaSO4 product. The sulfation rate of simultaneous calcinatiort/sulfation is slower than that of precalcined CaO, but with a long enough sulfation time, the calcium conversion of simultaneous calcination/sulfation is higher than that of the precalcined CaO. A grain-micrograin model is established to describe the simultaneous calcination, sintering and sulfation of limestone. The graln-micrograln model can reflect the true reaction process of the calcination and sulfation of limestone in oxy-fuel fluidized bed combustion.