The Chemical Engineering Journal, 27 (1983) 167 - 176 167

The Absorption of SO2 into Aqueous Na2C03 Solutions Accompanied by the

Desorption of CO2

H. HIKITA and Y. KONISHI

Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Osaka Prefecture, Sakai, Osaka (Japan)
(Received July 12,1982; in final form August 25, 1983)

ABSTRACT because the SOs2- ions formed by the above

reaction can react with the dissolved SO2
The absorption of SO2 into aqueous according to an instantaneous irreversible
Na2C03 solutions accompanied by the de- reaction (reaction (3)), as found by Hikita
sorption of CO2 was studied both theoret- etal. [3].
ically and experimentally. The absorption Takeuchi et al. [4] have studied the present
rate of SOz and the desorption rate of COz system experimentally using a baffled agitated
were measured at 25 “C using a baffled vessel. They have presented a model based on
agitated vessel operated batchwise. The exper- the assumption that the dissolved SOz reacts
imental results were analysed with the irreversibly and instantaneously with COs2-
chemical absorption theory based on the ions and water at a single reaction plane, the
Leveque model. The measured absorption and reaction products being HSOs- ions and
desorption rates were in good agreement with HCOs- ions, and found that the measured
the theoretical predictions. absorption rates of SO2 agreed with the film
theory predictions based on the above model.
However, the model proposed by Takeuchi
1. INTRODUCTION et al. seems unsatisfactory because the
assumed reaction scheme does not take into
The removal of SO? from gas mixtures by account the formation of C02.
aqueous Na&Os solutions is an important Shah et al. [ 51 have studied the absorption
industrial absorption process for the control of pure SO2 into a laminar jet of aqueous
of air pollution and is carried out in the Na2C0s solutions containing NaHCOs to
aqueous carbonate process [ 11. Further, this verify the criteria for gas supersaturation in
chemical absorption process is of academic the liquid phase for chemical absorption
interest, since it is a process in which the accompanied by desorption of a volatile reac-
absorption is accompanied by chemical reac- tion product. According to the model
tion and the subsequent desorption of a proposed by Shah et al., the dissolved SO2
volatile reaction product. However, there have reacts irreversibly and instantaneously with
been a few studies on the mechanism of COs2- ions and water and with HCOs- ions
chemical absorption of SOz into aqueous at a single reaction plane; the reaction
Na&Os solutions. product, HSOs- ions, of these two reactions
Ramachandran and Sharma [2] have can coexist with COs2- ions near the reaction
considered the present problem and proposed plane. However, the reaction between HSOs-
a model which interprets the chemical absorp- ions and COs2- ions can be regarded as an
tion mechanism, but the experimental verifi- instantaneous irreversible reaction, as de-
cation of this model has not been attempted. scribed below, and hence the proposed model
In this model it was assumed that only a reac- seems unreasonable.
tion between the dissolved SOz and COs2- Teramoto et al. [6] have also measured
ions (reaction (2)) takes place irreversibly and the absorption rates of SO2 into aqueous
instantaneously at a single reaction plane Na2C0s solutions in a baffled agitated vessel.
where the reaction product CO2 is liberated. They have proposed the two-reaction-plane
However, this assumption seems unreasonable model which is the same as that presented in

0300-9467/63/$3.00 0 Elsevier Sequoia/Printed in The Netherlands

168

the present work and showed that the mea- of K, - I&, reactions (1) - (4) may be almost
sured absorption rates were in good agree- irreversible reactions. Further, reactions (2) -
ment with the penetration theory predictions (4) may be considered to be very fast com-
based on the proposed model. However, the pared with the rates of diffusional processes.
experimental confirmation of this model was Thus, reactions (2) - (4), and thus reaction
not attempted for the desorption rates of (I), may be regarded as instantaneous
co*. irreversible reactions.
Sada et al. [ 71 have carried out absorption The dissolved SO2 will also react with water
experiments on the present system using a according to the hydrolysis reaction
baffled agitated vessel operated continuously
SO2 + H,O + HSOs- + H’ (5)
and compared the experimental results with
the approximate film theory solutions derived The value of the equilibrium constant K5 of
on the basis of the two-reaction-plane model this reaction is equal to 17.2 mol m--3 at
proposed by Teramoto et al. [6]. The mea- 25 “C and infinite dilution [9] and the
sured rates of absorption of SO* and desorp- forward rate constant is 3.4 X lo6 ssl at 20 “C
tion of COz were shown to be in approximate [lo]. Thus, reaction (5) may be regarded as
agreement with the theoretical predictions, an instantaneous reversible reaction.
although the desorption rates of CO* were Therefore, the absorption of SO2 into
found to deviate upwards from the theoret- aqueous Na,COs solutions can be regarded as
ical lines with increasing Na&Os concentra- a process of absorption accompanied by an
tion. instantaneous irreversible three-step reaction
The work reported here was undertaken to represented by reaction (1) and an instanta-
clarify the mechanism of absorption of SO* neous reversible reaction given by reaction
into aqueous Na,CO, solutions accompanied (5).
by the desorption of COz. Absorption exper- According to the reaction scheme described
iments were carried out using a baffled above, SO2 cannot coexist with either COs2-
agitated vessel operated batchwise. The exper- ions or SOs2- ions, and COs2- ions cannot
imental results were analysed by the chemical coexist with HSO,- ions. Therefore, two reac-
absorption theory based on the Leveque tion planes may be formed within the liquid
model. and they will divide the liquid phase into
three regions [6, 71. The concentration
profile of each species in the liquid phase will
2. CHEMICAL ABSORPTION MECHANISM be similar to that shown in Fig. l(a).
In this case, reaction (5) may occur instan-
When SO* is absorbed into aqueous taneously and reversibly in region 1 adjacent
Na&O, solutions, the following overall reac- to the gas-liquid interface, and reaction (3)
tion between the dissolved SOz and COs’- and the three reactions
ions may take place in the liquid phase:
SO2 + HCO, - CO2 + HSO, (6)
2S02 + 3COs2- + H20
H+ + HCO, - CO, + H,O (7)
- CO2 + 2SOs2- + 2HC0, (1)
H+ + SO?- - HS03~- (8)
Reaction (1) takes place in three steps:
whose equilibrium constants K, (= K,/K,),
so2 + co32- - co2 + sos2- (2) K, and KS are 3.88 X 104, 2.25 X lo3 m3
SO2 + SOs2- + Hz0 - 2HS0, (3) mol-’ [8] and 1.60 X lo4 m3 mol-’ [ 91
respectively at 25 “C and infinite dilution may
2COs2- + 2HSO,- ----+ 2SOs2- + 2HCO; (4)
take place irreversibly and instantaneously at
The values of the equilibrium constants Ki, the first reaction plane located closer to the
K2, K3 and K4 of reactions (l), (2), (3) and gas-liquid interface. At the second reaction
(4) are 2.51 X lOi’, 5.15 X 107, 2.76 X lo5 plane the instantaneous irreversible reaction
and 1.33 X lo3 respectively at 25 “C and in- represented by reaction (4) may occur. Some
finite dilution. These values were estimated of the CO2 liberated at the first reaction plane
from the dissociation constants of H2C03 [ 81 diffuses towards the bulk of the liquid. The
and H,SOs [9]. In view of these large values rest of the CO2 diffuses towards the gas-
 169

Region I a!,+Region 2f Region 3 the equilibrium constant KiO being 9.47 X

1 ,lst reaction phne lo3 at 25 “C and infinite dilution [8]. This
t Interface
Y I reaction is first order with respect to COz and
2nd reaction plane
its pseudo-first-order rate constant is 0.3 -
11 s-’ [12] in the range of the Na2C03
concentration studied. In the present work it
was assumed that reaction (10) is too slow for
an appreciable amount of the dissolved CO?
to react near the second reaction plane in
region 3 but fast enough to maintain the bulk
concentration of free COz virtually at zero.
(a) Oistance
When SOz is absorbed into a concentrated
Na2C03 solution, a high concentration of
HSO, ions will be formed in region 1 and
then the SO* hydrolysis reaction represented
by reaction (5) will make a negligible contri-
bution to the total absorption rate of S02.
Therefore, the concentration profile of each
species in this case will be as shown in Fig.
(b) Distance
l(b).
In previous work, Hikita et al. [13] showed
Fig. 1. Concentration profiles for the absorption of
that the mechanism of the liquid phase mass
SO2 into an aqueous Na&Os solution: (a) SO2
hydrolysis reaction taken into account; (b) SO? transfer in the baffled agitated vessel with a
hydrolysis reaction assumed to be negligible. flat gas-liquid interface can be described by
the LQveque model rather than by the film
model or the penetration model. The exper-
imental results obtained in the present work,
therefore, were analysed using the chemical
liquid interface and desorbs into the gas absorption theory based on the LQveque
phase, if the concentration of CO? at the first model.
reaction plane is greater than that at the inter- For the present problem the LkvQque
face. model differential equations describing the
In regions 2 and 3, COz and SOs2- ions co- diffusion of all species in the liquid phase are
exist, as seen in Fig. l(a). These two species non-linear and cannot be solved analytically.
may react according to However, the approximate analytical solution
can be obtained by replacing the diffusivity
ratios in the exact analytical solution based
CO2 + S03*- + Hz0 = HSO3 + HCO, (9) on the film model by the two-third roots of
these ratios. The absorption rate NA of SOz
and the desorption rate NC of COz are given
The equilibrium constant Kg of reaction (9) is bY
7.12 at 25 “C and infinite dilution [8,9], and
the forward rate constant is 2.39 X lop2 m3 NA=PA~LAA (11)
mol-’ s-’ at 25 “C and infinite dilution [ 111. and
These values are very low compared with
those of reaction (1). Hence, reaction (9) will
NC = PckLdCl- Cd (12)
make a negligible contribution to the absorp-
tion rate of SO2 or the desorption rate of
with
coz.
Further, CO2 and C032- ions coexist in
flA=l+@+$’ (13)
region 3. These species may react according to

(14)
CO* + C032- + Hz0 - 2HC03- (19)
 (16)

where PA and PC are the reaction factors for the absorption of SO2 and the desorption of CO2
respectively, and 4 and r$’ are the contributions to the reaction factor PA referring to the instan-
taneous irreversible reaction given by reaction (1) and the instantaneous reversible reaction given
by reaction (5) respectively. The concentration Ci of the dissolved CO2 at the first reaction plane
is given by

c,=ci + .L~-ci+2(~)li3Aid_-(~)119F,-(~)li3B,~ (17)

and the concentration F, of HS03- ions at the first reaction plane is given by the following equa-
tion :

F’2-j(~)2’3($y3B,
+2(AkJ3Eo
+(3L)2’310~F’-
- (~~‘3(~)2’3(~i”3Bo\2(-?-J3Bo
+2(sJ3E,+(3J310/
= 0 (18)

Further, the concentration Fi of HSO,- ions at the gas-liquid interface and the concentration Ji
of H+ ions at the gas-liquid interface are given by

(19)

and
213

44’ (20)

Substituting eqn. (17) into eqn. (12) gives the following expression for Nc :

(21)

This equation indicates that the desorption

rate NC of CO2 is independent of the instan- PA=&=l+@ (23)
taneous reversible reaction represented by
reaction (5). Fi =F, (24)
If the instantaneous reversible reaction,
reaction (5), can be neglected, i.e. when Ji = 0 (25)
K, -+ 0, eqn. (16) becomes

4’ = 0 Thus, the absorption rate NA of SO2 and the

(22)
desorption rate NC of CO2 in this case can be
and hence eqns. (13), (14), (19) and (20) calculated from eqns. (ll), (12), (15), (17),
reduce to (18), (23) and (24).
 171

3. EXPERIMENTAL DETAILS determined by the liquid analysis method.

The total feed rate of the gas mixture contain-
Absorption experiments were carried out in ing SO2 and N2 ranged from 5.1 X lo-’ to
an agitated vessel with a flat gas-liquid inter- 8.8 X lo-’ m3 s-l.
face. The agitated vessel was 12.3 cm in inside The experimental conditions and the com-
diameter and 20.0 cm in height and was of positions of the solutions used are given in
similar design to that used in the previous Table 1.
work [ 131. The vessel was operated batch-
wise with respect to the liquid. All the exper-
iments were carried out at atmospheric pres- 4. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
sure and at about 25 “C.
The absorbing liquids used were aqueous 4.1. Results
Na2C03 solutions, and their initial concen- The experimental results for the absorp-
trations were 39.8,67.6,130, 262, 502 and tion of SO2 into aqueous Na2C03 solutions
994 mol m- 3. The gas phase was a mixture of are shown in Fig. 2 where the SO2 absorption
SO* and Nz saturated with water vapour. The rate NA for each solution with a given initial
liquid and gas stirrers were driven at constant concentration Br of Na2C03 is plotted in
speeds of 1.67 s-l and 10.8 s-l respectively. logarithmic coordinates against the bulk
The duration of an experimental run was 26- concentration B0 of Na2C03. It can be seen in
102 min. this figure that the absorption rate NA
The SO2 content of the gas mixture going decreases rapidly as the initial concentration
into the agitated vessel was determined by Bf decreases. However, for each solution with
bubbling a known volume of the gas mixture a given Bf value, the absorption rate NA is
into an excess of NaOH aqueous solution and a weak function of the B. value and decreases
by analysing for SOs*- ions using iodometric gradually with decreasing Bo. Figure 3 shows
titration. The absorption rate of SO2 and the the results for the desorption of CO2 from
desorption rate of CO2 were obtained from aqueous Na&03 solutions as a log-log plot
the graphical differentiation of the curves of of the CO2 desorption rate Nc for each solu-
the Na2S03 concentration in the solution and tion uersus the Na2C03 concentration Bo. As
the sum of the Na2C03 and NaHC03 concen- can be seen in the figure, the effects of Bf and
trations in the solution respectively plotted B. on the desorption rate Nc are similar to
against time. The concentrations of Na2S03, those for the absorption rate shown in Fig. 2.
Na2C03 and NaHC03 in the solution were de- The insignificant effect of B. on the
termined by analysing the liquid samples absorption and desorption rates may be due
withdrawn from the bottom of the vessel at to the fact that the reaction factors for SO2
regular time intervals. The Na2C03 and and CO*, PA and PC respectively, depend on
NaHC03 contents were determined by the not only B. but also E, and IO, as can be seen
Winkler method and the Na2S03 content was from eqns. (13) - (16) and (18). Since the
determined by iodometric titration. The present experimental runs were carried out
absorption rate of SOz was also obtained batchwise, the bulk composition of the solu-
from the gas phase mass balance. The SO2 tion in the agitated vessel changed progressive-
content in the exit gas stream was determined ly owing to the absorption of SO?. As the
by the same method as in the analysis of the absorption proceeded, the bulk concentration
inlet gas. The absorption rate of SO2 was B. of C03*- ions decreased, but both the
calculated from the gas flow rate and the dif- concentration E, of S03*- ions and the
ference between the SO2 concentrations in concentration I0 of HC03- ions increased.
the inlet and outlet gas streams. The SO2 Therefore, the reaction factors and thus the
absorption rates obtained by the two methods SO2 absorption rate and the CO2 desorption
agreed to within 6%, and so the liquid analysis rate were insensitive to the B, value.
method was used for most of the runs. In
these runs the SO2 and CO2 contents in the 4.2. Prediction of physical properties
outlet gas stream were calculated from the gas When the dissolved SO2 reacts with
feed rate and both the SO2 absorption rate Na2C03 in solution, an aqueous solution
and the CO2 desorption rate which were containing NaHS03 and H2SO3 exists near the
172

6 10 2 L 6100 2 I 6 600
Bo (momr+)
Fig. 2. Absorption rate of SO2 into aqueous Na&Os
solutions at 25 “C: ___ theoretical absorp-
tion rate which takes into account the effect of the
SO2 hydrolysis reaction; - - -, theoretical absorp-
tion rate which assumes a negligible SO2 hydrolysis
reaction; D, I?, = 39.8 mol m-3; 0, Br = 67.6 mol
m -3. A, B, = 130 mol mP3; 0, B, = 262 mol m-3; v ,
Br =‘502 mol me3; 0, Br = 994 mol rnmm3.

0.1
1 I / 1 I
6 10 2 L 6100 2 L 661

Fig. 3. Desorption rate of CO* from aqueous

Na2C03 solutions at 25 “C: - theoretical desorp-
tion rate; the other symbols are a’s in Fig. 2.

gas-liquid interface, as shown in Fig. l(a).

The interfacial concentrations Fi and Ji of
NaHSO, and H2S03 are given by eqns. (19)
and (20) respectively. Therefore, the values of
the liquid phase diffusivity and the physical
solubility for each of the two gases and the
equilibrium constant of reaction (5) used for
the analysis of the experimental results should
be those of this mixed solution. In the present
work the effects of the presence of H$O, on
the liquid phase diffusivity, physical solubility
and equilibrium constant of reaction (5) were
assumed to be negligible, since the interfacial sure and Henry’s law constant for each of the
concentration Ji of HzS03 was very low (less two gases, with a correction for the gas phase
than 7.2 mol mp3). resistance to mass transfer. The gas phase
The values of the liquid phase mass transfer mass transfer coefficient for each gas was cal-
coefficient hL for SO* and CO* were cal- culated from the empirical formula obtained
culated from the following empirical equation in the previous work [13] and by taking into
which was obtained in the previous work account the effect of bulk flow according to
[13]: the Stefan-Maxwell equation. The gas phase
resistance for SO2 was in the range 5.3% -
35.0% of the total resistance, but the gas
7 =().322jdL2;‘”
)““(_!&)li3 (26) phase resistance for CO2 was less than 1.1%.
Henry’s law constants HA and Hc for SO2
and CO2 respectively in aqueous NaHS03
solutions were estimated from the following
where 1 is the vessel diameter, D is the liquid equations:
phase diffusivity of SO2 or CO2 in the solu-
tion, dL is the diameter of the liquid stirrer,
NL is the liquid phase stirring speed, and pL = k,AFi (28)
and pL are the density and viscosity respec-
tively of the solution.
The liquid phase diffusivities DA and DC of = k,cFi (29)
SO2 and CO2 in aqueous NaHSO, solutions
were estimated from the following equation
proposed by Ratcliff and Holdcroft [ 141: where HAw and Hc, are Henry’s law constants
for SO2 and CO2 respectively in water, and
DA
-=-
DC ksA and ksc are the salting-out parameters for
D AW Dew SO2 and CO2 respectively in an aqueous
NaHSO, solution. The salting-out parameter
=l-lFi (27) k, can be expressed as the sum of the
where DAw and Dew are the liquid phase contributions due to the positive and negative
diffusivities of SO2 and CO2 respectively in ions present and the dissolved gas [ 181; the
water and t is the value of the constant for values of the contributions due to Na+,
aqueous NaHS03 solutions. The values of HS03- ions, SO2 and CO2 were taken from
DAw and Dew at 25 “C were taken to be equal the literature [ 3,181. The estimated values of
to 1.76 X lo-’ m2 s-r and 1.97 X lo-’ m2 SK’ ksA and ksc were 7.4 X 10e5 m3 mol-’ and
respectively [ 151. The value of t was ,esti- 1.62 X low4 m3 mol-’ respectively. The values
mated from viscosity data for aqueous of HAw and Hc, at 25 “C!were taken as 84.5
NaHS03 solutions and was taken as 1.29 X Pa m3 mol-’ [19] and 2990 Pa m3 mol-’
[ 201 respectively.
10e4 m3 mol-’ [ 141.
The ratios of the effective diffusivities of The equilibrium constant K5 of reaction (5)
C032-, S032-, HSO,, HC03- and H+ ions was obtained from the following equation
and of the liquid phase diffusivity of CO2 to presented in the previous paper [21], in
which the effect of the ionic strength of the
the liquid phase diffusivity of S02, i.e.
solution is neglected:
&/DA, &IDA, h/DA, &/DA, DJIDA and
DC/DA, were assumed to be equal to the
corresponding values at infinite dilution or in 770.5
log K, = 6.7369 - - - 0.01986T (30)
water. The effective diffusivities of ionic T
species at infinite dilution were estimated by
the method of Vinograd and McBain [16] Some of the physical properties, Ai, Ci,
using the values of the ionic conductance for DA, DB, DC, kLA, km etc., changed owing to
these species [17]. the variation in the composition of the solu-
The interfacial concentrations Ai and Ci of tion as the absorption proceeded. The ranges
SO2 and CO2 in an aqueous NaHS03 solu- of the predicted physical properties are listed
tion were obtained from the bulk partial pres- in Table 2.
174

TABLE 2
Ranges of physical properties for the SOzPNa&Oa system

Bf c. DAXIO9 DcX109 k,x105 kLCx105 K,

2 -1
(mol rnm3) fmol m-3) (mol mm3) (m’s_l) (m s ) (m s--r) (m s-l) (mol me3)
-
39.8 37.9 - 38.2 0.0603 - 0.0548 1.74 1.95 1.34 1.45 17.0
67.6 47.8 - 48.9 0.119 _ 0.106 1.73 1.93 1.33 1.44 17.0
130 38.7 - 40.6 0.199 - 0.180 1.71 1.92 1.32 1.42 16.9 - 16.8
262 39.7 - 41.3 0.220 - 0.204 1.65 1.85 1.26 1.36 17.0 - 16.9
502 22.5 - 26.6 0.340 - 0.271 1.55 - 1.58 1.74 - 1.77 1.19 - 1.21 1.28 - 1.30 17.0 - 16.7
994 27.9 - 33.5 0.376 - 0.298 1.35 - 1.38 1.51 - 1.55 0.965 - 0.991 1.04 - 1.07 17.1 - 16.5

DB/D, = 0.554 - 0.546; D&DA = 0.606 - 0.602; D&DA = 0.530 - 0.523; D&DA = 0.716 - 0.713; D&DA =
0.708 - 0.706; D13/DA = 0.661 - 0.648; DJD, = 4.71 - 5.29; DC/DA = 1.12; DF,/DA = 1.32.

4.3.Comparison of experimental results with

theory
In Fig. 2 the measured absorption rates of
SOz are compared with the theoretical predic-
tions based on the chemical absorption theory
described above. The full lines in the figure
represent the theoretical absorption rates
which take into account the effect of SO:!
hydrolysis (reaction (5)) and were calculated
from eqns. (ll), (13), (15), (16) and (18)
using the values of the liquid phase mass
transfer coefficient and various physical prop-
erties predicted by the above-mentioned
methods. The broken lines show the theoret-
ical absorption rates which assume that the Fig. 4. Comparison of measured and theoretical
effect of SO2 hydrolysis reaction is negligible absorption rates of SO2 : the symbols are as in Fig. 2.
and were calculated from eqns. (ll), (15),
(18) and (23). Thus, the distance between the against the theoretical absorption rate (NA)cal
full and broken lines for each solution is a which takes into account the effect of the
measure of the effect of SO;? hydrolysis reac- SO2 hydrolysis reaction. As can be seen in
tion on the absorption rate. It can be seen in this figure, the measured absorption rates are
the figure that the full lines for solutions with in good agreement with the theoretical
Bf values of 39.8 mol m-3, 67.6 mol mP3 and absorption rates, with an average deviation of
130 mol mP3 lie about 23%, 13% and 4.2% 3.6%.
respectively above the broken lines for the Figure 3 compares the measured desorption
same solutions and that for solutions with rates of COz with the theoretical predictions.
Bf greater than 262 mol mP3 both theoretical The full lines in the figure show the theoret-
lines agree well to within about 1%. The ical desorption rates calculated from eqns.
measured absorption rates of SOz shown in (12), (15), (17) and (18). It should be noted
Fig. 2 are in good agreement with the full that the CO, desorption rate is independent
lines rather than with the broken lines, of the SO* hydrolysis reaction, as mentioned
indicating that for Na,CO, solutions of low above. It can be seen in the figure that the
concentrations the effect of SO2 hydrolysis agreement between the measured desorption
reaction on the absorption rate cannot be rates and the theoretical line for each solution
neglected. is fairly good.
Figure 4 also shows the experimental Figure 5 also shows the comparison of the
results for the absorption of SOz as a log-log measured desorption rates (N&+ of CO2 with
plot of the measured absorption rate (NA)obs the theoretical desorption rates (Nc),,,. As
 175

13 H. Hikita, S. Asai, H. Ishikawa and Y. Saito,

Chem. Eng. Sci., 30 (1975) 607.
14 G. A. Ratcliff and J. G. Holdcroft, Trans. Inst.
Chem. Eng., 41 (1963) 315.
15 D. W. Peaceman, Sc.D. Thesis, Massachusetts
Institute of Technology, 1951.
16 J. R. Vinograd and J. W. McBain, J. Am. Chem.
Sot., 63 (1941) 2008.
17 Landolt-Bornstein, Group II, Vol. 7, Springer,
Berlin, 1960, p. 259.
18 D. W. van Krevelen and P. J. Hoftijzer, Proc. 21e
Congr. Znt. de Chimie Zndustrielle, in Chim. Znd.,
Numer. Spec., (1948) 168.
19 A. E. Rabe and J. F. Harris, J. Chem. Eng. Data, 8
(1963) 333.
20 W. F. Linke and A. Seidell, Solubilities of
(NcJcd X lo3 (mol me2 s-i) Inorganic and Metal-Organic Compounds, Vol. 1,
Fig. 5. Comparison of measured and theoretical Van Nostrand, New York, 4th edn., 1958, p. 459.
desorption rates of COa: the symbols are as in Fig. 2. 21 H. Hikita, S. Asai and H. Nose, AZChE J., 24
(1978) 147.
can be seen in this figure, the measured
desorption rates of COz agree quite well with
the theoretical desorption rates, the average APPENDIX A: NOMENCLATURE
deviation being 3.8%.
This good agreement between the exper- A concentration of SO* in solution (mol
imental results and the theoretical predictions me3)
may indicate that the chemical absorption B concentration of COs’- ions in solution
mechanism assumed for the present system is (mol m-3)
correct. c concentration of COz in solution (mol
me3)
6, diameter of liquid stirrer (m)
REFERENCES D liquid phase diffusivity (m* s-r)
E concentration of S03*- ions in solution
(mol m- 3,
W. S. Kyte, !l’~-4n.s. Inst. Chem. Eng., 59 (1981)
219. F concentration of HS03- ions in solution
P. A. Ramachandran and M. M. Sharma, Trans. (mol mW3)
Inst. Chem. Eng., 49 (1971) 253. H Henry’s law constant (Pa m3 mol-‘)
H. Hikita, S. Asai and T. Tsuji, AZChE J., 23 I concentration of HC03- ions in solution
(1977) 538.
H. Takeuchi, Y. Maeda and K. Ito, Kuguku
(mol me3)
Koguku Ronbunshu, 1 (1975) 257. J concentration of H+ ions in solution
Y. T. Shah, V. G. Pangarkar and M. M. Sharma, (mol mp3)
Chem. Eng. Sci., 29 (1974) 1601. liquid phase mass transfer coefficient
M. Teramoto, M. Nagamochi, T. Tanaka, T. Hara (m s-l)
and H. Teranishi, Preprints, 9th Autumn Meet. of
ks salting-out parameter (m3 mol-‘)
the Society of Chemical Engineers, Fukuoko,
1975, Society of Chemical Engineers, Tokyo, K equilibrium constant
1975, p. 499. 1 diameter of agitated vessel (m)
7 E. Sada, H. Kumazawa and T. Hoshino, Chem. absorption rate of SO2 (mol m-* s-l)
NA
Eng. J., 18 (1979) 125.
NC desorption rate of CO2 (mol m-* s-l)
8 H. S. Harned and B. B. Owen, The Physical
Chemistry of Electrolytic Solutions, Reinhold, NL liquid phase stirring speed (s-l)
New York, 3rd edn., 1958, p. 691. P partial pressure of SO2 or CO2 (Pa)
9 H. V. Tartar and H. H. Garretson,J. Am. Chem. T temperature of solution (K)
sot., 63 (1941) 808. X distance from gas-liquid interface (m)
10 M. Eigen, K. Kustin and G. Maass, 2. Phys. Chem.
(Frankfurt am Main), 30 (1961) 130.
11 H. Hikita, S. Asai, A. Yano and H. Nose, AIChE
Greek symbols
J., 28 (1982) 1009. P reaction factor
12 D. Roberts and P. V. Danckwerts, Chem. Eng. pL viscosity of solution (Pa s)
Sci., 17 (1962) 961. t constant in eqn. (27) (m3 mol-‘)
176

pL density of solution (kg mm3) f feed or initial concentration

@ parameter defined by eqn. (15) F HS03-- ions
4’ parameter defined by eqn. (16) i gas-liquid interface
I HCO,- ions
Subscripts J H+ ions
A so2 W water
B C032- ions 0 bulk of liquid
C (302 1 first reaction plane
E SO2- ions 2 second reaction plane