From my environmental Guru:
In the 1970's technologies arose for the production of fertilizers from the sulfur oxides and nitrogen, in that time the gases could not be cleaned of the UHC's and now in the past decade with cleaning technologies, these fertilizer technologies have been realized but with the high costs associated to clean the gases of UHC's.
The quantity of ammonium sulphate that can be produced by a refinery or thermo-electric station burning 5,000 bbl/day of heavy fuel oil containing 5% sulphur is 162.27 Ton/day.
Daily consumption of fuel 5,000 barriles (793,410 Kg.)
Density 0.998 gr/cm3
Sulfur content 5 % (39,670 Kg.)
The sulfur reacts in the furnace with oxygen and forms sulfur dioxide.
Sulfur dioxide (79,340 Kg.)
S + O2 -------SO2
32 32 64
The sulfur dioxide of the combustion gases reacts with the ammonia solution
Ammonium Sulfite (143,600 Kg.)
SO2 + H2O + 2(NH3)------(NH4)2SO3
64 18 34 116
Ammonium Sulfate (162,270 Kg.)
(NH4)2SO3 + ½ O2---------(NH4)2SO4
116 16 132
It is good if it does not mean spending big downstream dollars to cleanup gases...
The process technologies developed for cleaning of the gases of combustion and their level of advancement are:
PROCESS DEVELOPMENT STAGE
COMINCO COMMERCIAL
INSTITUT INORGANIC CHEMISTRY, CHEK COMMERCIAL
IPRAN, RUMANIA COMMERCIAL
SHOWADENKO, JAPÓN PROTOTYPE
NIIOGAZ, RUSIA COMMERCIAL
KUHLMAN ELECTRICITE DE FRANCE PROTOTYPO
INSTITUT FRANCAIS DU PETROLE PROTOTYPO
TVA – EPA PILOT PROJECT
The technology of catalytic combustion, allowing 99% combustion of the product makes it possible to clean the combustion gases. The gases react with a solution of ammonia to produce fertilizers. The products obtained are ammonium sulphate, nitrites and nitrates of ammonia and ammonium bicarbonate.