Principle

German coal contains an average of one tonne of sulphur per 100 tons of coal. The combustion of this 100 tons of coal "produces" about two tonnes of sulphur dioxide. In comparison a large 700 megawatt power plant which burns about 200 tons of coal per hour produces about 100 tons of sulphur dioxide per day. Due to the environmental hazard of sulphur dioxide these flue gases have to be desulphurised. This experiment shows a simple demonstration of the chemical processes of flue gas desulphurisation like in power plants today.

Benefits

• Stable and safe experiment setup
• Illustrative Introduction to Desulphurisation

Tasks

Clean flue gas using limestone and describe the underlying chemical process.

Learning objectives

• Environmental hazard due to sulfur dioxide
• Functioning of a flue gas desulphurisation plant