A. Lancia et al., CHARACTERISTIC TIMES FOR LIMESTONE PARTICLE DISSOLUTION IN THE PRODUCTION OF GYPSUM FROM THE WET FLUE-GAS DESULFURIZATION PROCESS, Environmental science & technology, 28(6), 1994, pp. 1031-1036
Limestone dissolution plays a relevant role in determining the quality
of the gypsum that can be obtained as a byproduct of the wet limeston
e flue gas desulfurization process. In this work, the dissolution of l
imestone in an aqueous solution of SO2 is experimentally studied. The
dissolution rate in a fixed-bed reactor is measured at different sulfu
r strengths of the solution and liquid-solid relative velocities. The
results are interpreted using a model based on the film theory. It is
shown that the thickness of the liquid film, and therefore the Sherwoo
d number, is a function of the Reynolds number, and a correlation is p
roposed for this dependence. Using the correlation and the theoretical
model proposed, some results are obtained for the shrinking of a sphe
rical limestone particle as a function of time.