Basic Thermodynamics ~ J. Pohl © www.THERMOspokenhere.com (B850) -  ()

Scrubber Mass Proportions

A particular coal-fired electric power station uses 7.5*10^9 kg of coal per year to produce 950 MW of electrical power. The delivered coal contains 2.4% sulphur by mass. Were a scrubber used to remove 85% of the sulphur from the exhaust gases in the form CaSO3, what mass of CaSO3 would be produced annually?

♦  The balanced reaction equation of "wet scrubbing" of coal with a limestone slurry is:

CaCO3(solid) +SO2(gas) --> CaSO3(solid) + CO2 (gas)

Molecular weights for the elements (sufficiently accurate for our purposes) are: Ca = 40.1, S = 32.7, C = 12.0 and O=16.0

For CaCO3... Ca + C + 3O = 40.1 + 12.0 +3(16.0) =

For SO2... S + 2O = 32.0 + 2(16) =

For CaSO3...Ca + S + 3O =

For CO2... C + 2O = 12.0 + 2(16) =