Numerical analysis of the energy-saving tray absorber of flue-gas desulfurization systems

This study is performed to study the effect of the tray in the absorber of a flue-gas desulphurization (FGD) system by using a computational fluid dynamic (CFD) technique. Stagnant time of slurry and the pressure drop in the FGD absorber increase when a tray is used in the absorber. Stagnant time of slurry results in an increase in the desulfurization effect and a decrease in the power of the absorber recirculation pump; however, increased pressure drop requires more power of booster fan in the FGD system should be increased. The gas and slurry hydrodynamics inside the absorber is simulated using a commercial CFD code. The continuous gas phase has been modeled in an Eulerian framework, while the discrete liquid phase has been modeled by adopting a Lagrangian approach by tracking a large number of particles through the computational domain. It was observed that the power saved upon increasing the stagnant time of slurry was more than increased power with pressure drop.