Atmospheric Chemistry Special Feature: Reactive collisions of sulfur dioxide with molten carbonates

摘要

Molecular beam scattering experiments are used to investigate reactions of SO2 at the surface of a molten alkali carbonate eutectic at 683 K. We find that two-thirds of the SO2 molecules that thermalize at the surface of the melt are converted to gaseous CO2 via the reaction . The CO2 product is formed from SO2 in less than 10^-6 s, implying that the reaction takes place in a shallow liquid region less than 100 Å deep. The reaction probability does not vary between 683 and 883 K, further implying a compensation between decreasing SO2 residence time in the near-interfacial region and increasing reactivity at higher temperatures. These results demonstrate the remarkable efficiency of SO2 → CO2 conversion by molten carbonates, which appear to be much more reactive than dry calcium carbonate or wet slurries commonly used for flue gas desulfurization in coal-burning power plants.