Feature of flue gas treatment by electron-beam irradiation and details of its development

The method of flue gas treatment with an electron beam, developed jointly by Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute and Ebara Corporation, is promising as a simple, dry process, not using a catalyst, of the desulfurization and denitration. In the procedure, flue gas is irradiated with an electron beam in the presence of ammonia, so that sulfurous acid gas and nitrogen oxide are converted to ammonium sulfate and ammonium nitrate particles, which are then removed. The method is already demonstrated in the flue gas treatment of an iron ore sintering furnace as pilot test. And further, the pilot tests in coal combustion flue gas treatment are proceeding in the United States and West Germany. For the flue gas treatment method using an electron beam, the mechanisms of desulfurization and denitration, the course taken in its development and the present state of development are described, and also the future outlook and problems. (Mori, K.)