Design Study of Small Low-cost E-beam Fluegas Scrubbers

A major environmental problem in both industrialized and developing countries is the emission of oxides of sulfur (SO2) and nitrogen (NOx) from the stacks of coal- or oil-fired power plants. A promising technology for the remediation of these pollutants is the use of electron-beam scrubbers, which break the oxides down into harmless materials. So far, cost of e-beam technology has been a major problem. We propose a design study for application of e-beam scrubbing on a smaller scale at lower cost. We propose to investigate both the DC accelerator approach and the pulsed microwave-based linac approach to the problem, with the study culminating in a design for a prototype.