NO _X and SO _X Flue Gas Treatment System Based on Sulfur-Enriched Organic Oil in Water Emulsion

Nitrogen (NO _X ) and sulfur (SO _X ) oxides, the major gaseous pollutants emitted from fossil fuel combustion, have significant health and environmental concerns. Environmental regulations limit these pollutant emissions to tolerable levels. Currently, these pollutants are treated by flue gas desulfurization (SO _X removal) and selective catalytic reduction (NO _X removal) processes. However, these technologies require large footprints, use expensive catalysts, and operate under high working temperatures. A new catalyst is reported herein, based on sulfur-enriched oil emulsified with water, where the active catalytic species are sulfur-based oxides. The catalyst has been developed using O₂ as the oxidation reagent in a low-temperature wet scrubber rather than H₂O₂ or O₃ that are presently used. The catalytically oxidized pollutants are converted to produce ammonium fertilizers by NH₄OH addition. As a result of treatment with this novel catalyst, we observed reductions in emissions of SO _X and NO _X of >85% and 23%, respectively. The catalyst production and the wet scrubbing process are discussed in detail.