Claims
- 1. An apparatus for removing solid particles remaining from a reactive gas conditioning process comprising:
a conditioning chamber for contacting a contaminant in a gas with an alkali contained within a liquid droplet, where said contaminant is an alkali-reactive contaminant, and where said contacting forms kernels having a size range when said liquid evaporates; and a separator for removing said kernels from said contacted gas.
- 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said contacting contacts a spray with said gas, where said spray has droplets comprising said alkali, where said droplets have a mean lifetime in said conditioning chamber, and where said mean lifetime and spray characteristics are sufficient for said spray to absorb said contaminants and for said contaminants to react with said alkali to form kernels having said size range.
- 3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein said droplets have a mean droplet diameter greater than about 100 microns.
- 4. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein said alkali includes water-soluble alkaline earth particles having an initial mean diameter, wherein said droplets are a slurry including said water-soluble alkaline earth particles, and wherein said mean lifetime is sufficient for said alkali to substantially dissolve in said water.
- 5. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein said mean lifetime is less than about 5 seconds and wherein said initial mean diameter is about 10 microns or less.
- 6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said alkali is hydrated lime.
- 7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said gas includes dust particles having a dust particle size range, wherein said kernel size range is sufficiently different from said dust particle size range, and wherein said separator preferentially separates said kernels from said dust particles.
- 8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said separator is a cyclone separator.
- 9. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said separator is a settling tank.
- 10. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said conditioning chamber is a cooling tower.
- 11. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said separator is incorporated into said conditioning chamber.
- 12. A method of removing particles from a scrubbing process comprising:
contacting a spray having drops including an alkali with a gas having at least one acid-forming components for a contact time sufficient to allow said at least one acid-forming component to react with said alkali and form kernels; and removing said kernels from said gas.
- 13. The method of claim 12, wherein one of said at least one acid-forming component is sulfur dioxide, wherein said kernels are solid particles including sulfur, and wherein said contact time is sufficient to produce is substantially sulfur-free contacted gas.
- 14. The method of claim 12, wherein one of said at least one acid-forming component is hydrochloric acid, wherein said kernels are solid particles including chlorine, and wherein said contact time is sufficient to produce substantially chlorine-free contacted gas.
- 15. The method of claim 12, wherein said alkali is a water soluble solid, wherein said spray includes water and dissolved alkali, and wherein said contacting includes absorbing said acid-forming components in said water, and reacting said absorbed acid-forming components with said dissolved alkali.
- 16. The method of claim 12, wherein said alkali is hydrated lime, wherein said spray is a slurry including water containing dissolved lime and hydrate lime, and wherein said hydrated lime includes lime particles of a size sufficient to maintain a water pH of about 12 or greater.
- 17. The method of claim 12, wherein said gas includes dust, and wherein said removing has an efficiency that is greater for said kernels than for said dust.
- 18. The method of claim 17, wherein said removing is removing with a cyclone separator.
- 19. The method of claim 17, wherein said removing is removing with a settling chamber.
- 20. The method of claim 17, wherein said contacting and said removing are performed in a conditioning tower.
- 21. The method of claim 12, wherein said contact time is less than 5 seconds.
- 22. The method of claim 12, wherein said spray is a slurry of water and said alkali, wherein said alkali is hydrate lime.
- 23. A method of using a process gas having an alkali-reactive contaminant in the production of contaminant-free cement comprising:
contacting a spray having drops including an alkali with said process gas for a contact time sufficient to allow said contaminant to react with said alkali to form kernels; removing said kernels from said process gas; using said contacted process gas in the production of said contaminant-free cement.
- 24. The method of claim 23, wherein said contaminant gas includes sulfur.
- 25. The method of claim 23, wherein said contaminant gas includes chlorine.
- 26. The method of claim 23, wherein said spray is a slurry of water and said alkali, wherein said alkali is hydrate lime.
- 27. The method of claim 23, wherein said contact time is less than 5 seconds.
- 28. The method of claim 26, wherein said slurry has a pH greater than about 12.
- 29. The method of claim 23, wherein said gas includes kiln dust, and wherein said removing has an efficiency that is greater for said kernels than for said kiln dust.
- 30. The method of claim 29, wherein said removing is removing with a cyclone separator.
- 31. The method of claim 29, wherein said removing is removing with a settling chamber.
- 32. The method of claim 29, wherein said contacting and said removing are performed in a conditioning tower.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 09/064,015, filed Apr. 20, 1998.
Continuation in Parts (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09064015 |
Apr 1998 |
US |
Child |
09797203 |
Feb 2001 |
US |