FRACTIONATION AND LIQUEFACTION OF SULFUR DIOXIDE-CONTAINING GAS STREAMS

ADVANCED FLUE GAS CLEAN-UP TECHNOLOGIES PRODUCE SO2 AND NOX STREAMS CONTAINING 50 - 90% SO2. THE SO2 CONTAINED IN THESESTREAMS IS EXPENSIVE TO CONVERT TO USEFUL PRODUCTS. THIS PROPOSAL DESCRIBES A MEMBRANE-CONDENSATION PROCESS THAT FRACTIONATES THE ORIGINAL STREAM INTO TWO STREAMS. ONE STREAM IS CONVERTED TO LIQUID SO2 A MARKETABLE BYPRODUCT, AND A SECOND STREAM, CONTAINING LESS THAN 1% SO2 CAN BE RECYCLED TO THE FLUE GAS. EXTREMELY PERMSELECTIVE MEMBRANESRECENTLY DEVELOPED AT MEMBRANE TECHNOLOGY AND RESEARCH, INC. (MTR) WILL BE USED IN THIS PROCESS. IN THE PHASE I PROGRAM, THE ABILITY OF THESE MEMBRANES TO OPERATE EFFICIENTLY WHEN EXPOSED TO THESE CONCENTRATED SO2-CONTAINING STREAMS WILL BE DETERMINED. A COMPUTER MODELOF THE PROCESS WILL ALSO BE DEVELOPED AND THE COSTS OF A FULL-SCALE PROCESS DETERMINED USING THE EXPERIMENTAL DATA. IN THE PHASE II PROGRAM, A BENCH-SCALE SYSTEM WOULD BE CONSTRUCTED AND OPERATED IN THE LABORATORY.