Abstract
In this study, the change in the desulfurization characteristics of limestone induced by adding some alkali metal compounds and chlorides to limestone was investigated by thermobalance experiments. In addition, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations were performed to elucidate the effect of alkali-metal chloride additions on the CaO calcination for the desulfurization process. The experimental results obtained show that the addition of NaCl into the limestone is the most effective in improving the desulfurization efficiency. The X-ray diffraction analyses of the calcined seashell, limestone and NaCl-doped limestone found that the calcined seashell, as well as the calcined NaCl-doped limestone, have a similar structure as the CaO crystal. These two materials also show a high desulfurization efficiency. The MD simulations show that NaCl doping into the CaO contributes to the crystallization of CaO, while KCl and LiCl dopings have a small contribution. Therefore, the NaCl doping has a predominant effect on the CaO crystallization leading to a high desulfurization efficiency.
