Sulfidation Experiments in a Pressurized Thermogravimetric Analyzer With Chinese Calcined Limestones Available to Purchase

The sulfidation experiments with two kinds of Chinese calcined limestones were performed in a pressurized thermogravimetric analyzer (PTGA). The effects of reaction temperature (700–950°C), total pressure (0–1MPa), particle size (0.055–2mm), and H₂S concentration (0.1–4%) on the sorbent conversions were analyzed. Morphological studies with scanning electron microscope and energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) equipment were made to obtain the pictures of solid surface and of the cross-sectioned samples. Nitrogen adsorption measurements were applied to determine the pore structure properties of the particles. Experimental results show that the sulfidation rate increases with total pressure when the volume fraction of H₂S is constant. However, the rate of sulfidation decreases with the increase of total pressure when the H₂S partial pressure is constant. Reaction temperature affects the sulfidation greatly, and the reaction rate increases with temperature. The sulfidation is the first order with respect to H₂S partial pressure. Moreover, larger particles result in lower conversions and reaction rates. The unreacted shrinking core model was applied to describe the sulfidation to determine the kinetic parameters.