Determination of the arrhenius parameters in the sulfur dioxide sorption reaction by limestone

Sulfur emission in coal power generation is a matter of great environmental concern and limestone sorbents are widely used for reducing such emissions. Thermogravimetry was applied to determine the effects of the type of limestone (calcite and dolomite), particle size (530 and 650 pm) and atmosphere (air and nitrogen) on the kinetics of SO2 sorption by limestone. Isothermal experiments were performed for different temperatures (650 to 950 degrees C), at local atmospheric pressure. The apparent activation energies. as indicated by the slope of the Arrhenius plot, resulted between 3.03 and 4.45 kJ mol(-1) for the calcite, and 11.24 kJ mol(-1) for the dolomite.