NCG Incinerator scrubber plume problems.

[jdbanks]

It looks to me like SO3 formation in an NCG incinerator may depend in part on the NOx present in the furnace exhaust.<br>
I'm looking for someone who has noticed an effect like that, maybe a lesser SO3 plume after changing to a low-NOx burner, or a change in the plume associated with a change in the amount of NH3 or other nitrogen compound in the NCG's. Could save someone installing an "end of pipe" super demister to handle the SO3 aerosol.

 

To paraphrase some anonymous historian, &quot;Those who do not learn from history are damned to repeat it&quot;. Gay-Lussac during France's golden age of discovery made the following important contribution to industrial chemistry:

NO2 + SO2 --> NO + SO3

British physician and inventor John Roebuck in 1746 took this reaction and is given credit for inventing the Lead Chamber process for the manufacture of sulfuric acid. The contactors were known as Guy-Lussac Towers. This was the principal means of manufacture of sulfuric acid well into the 20th century. One can therefore draw the simple conclusion that the higher the NO2 the higher the SO3.

 

[jdbanks]

Historian: thanks for writing. I had found the catalytic effect you mentioned, but believe the amount of NOx present in most (or all) normal combustors may be enough to cause visible SO3 plumes. I'm still looking for someone's real-world experience about incinerator NOx vs. SO3 plume formation!