Fluidized bed combustion and desulfurization of a heavy liquid fuel

The theoretical study was aimed at developing a predictive model for estimating the desulfurization efficiency in a fluidized bed fed with liquid fuels. The model is based on a novel three phases schematization of the bed. It accounts for the mechanism of bubble coalescence, the diffusion between bubbles and the emulsion, the sulfation reaction, the sorbent attrition and elutriation. A macro-kinetics of fuel oxidation is adopted for the prediction of the O2 partial pressure in the bed. Model results are presented in the paper. The trend and the measured values obtained from the experiments are well predicted by the model, even if some refinements are needed in order to have a very accurate estimation of the sulfur retention.