EPRI 1 EHEC4RlC POWEg

RESEARCH IINSTITgTE
EPRl CS-3612-CCM
Volume 3
Project $031-4
Brochure
July 1984

FGD Chemistry and Analytical

Methods Handbook
Volume 3:
Instructions for the Use of Computer
Program FGDLIQEQ

Prepared by
Radian Corporation
Austin, Texas
 ORDERING INFORMATION

Requests for copies of this report should be directed to Research Reports Center (RRC), Box
50490, Palo Alto, CA 94303, (415) 965-4081. There is no charge for reports requested by EPRI
member utilities and affiliates, U.S. utility associations, U.S. government agencies (federal,
state, and local), media, and foreign organizations with which EPRI has an information
exchange agreement. On request, RRC will send a catalog of EPRI reports.

For further information about the code described in this report, contact the Electric Power
Software Center, University Computing Company, 1930 Hi Line Drive, Dallas,
Texas 75207, (214) 655-8883.

ResearchCategories:
SO, control
Plant systems and performance assessment

Copyright O 1984 Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. All rights reserved.

NOTICE
This report was prepared by the organization(s) named below as an account of work spon-
sored by the Electric Power Research Institute, Inc. (EPRI). Neither EPRI, members of EPRI,
the organization(s) named below, nor any person acting on behalf of any of them: (a) makes
any warranty, express or implied, with respect to the use of any information, apparatus,
method, or process disclosed in this report or that such use may not infringe privately owned
rights; or (b) assumes any liabilitieswith respect to the use of, or for damages resulting from
the use of, any information, apparatus, method, or process disclosed in this report.

Prepared by
RADIAN CORPORATION
8501 Mo-Pac Boulevard
Austin, Texas 78766-0948

Principal Investigators
T. F! Smith
M. J. Hebets
M. 6. Faist

Prepared for
Electric Power Research Institute
3412 Hillview Avenue
Palo Alto, California 94304

EPRI Project Manager

Dorothy Stewart
DesulfurizationProcesses Program
Coal Combustion Systems Division
A General Description

Flue gas desulfurization (FGD) is a general term that applies to any

chemical process used to remove SO, from combustion flue gases.
Most FGD processes operate by contacting the flue gases with an alka-
line slurry or liquid that absorbs and reacts with the acidic SO,. The
sulfur speciesare removed from the system by precipitationor stripping.
FGD systems are generally categorized as "wet" or "dry." The current
FGD LlQuid EQuilibrium (FGDLIQEQ) program helps the chemist, engi-
neer, operator, or technician to investigate the quality of liquid samples
obtained at various points in an FGD unit.

From a process performanceviewpoint, the critical steps in an FGD unit

are those involving mass transfer: the absorption of SO, the dissolution
of the alkali reagent, and the precipitationof the sulfur-containingsolids.
The process performancewill be determined by the rates of these steps.
The rates are affected by physical design considerations such as nozzle
configuration in the absorber or stream flow rates, but they are also
affected by chemical considerations. Moreover, it is critical that mass
transfer take place in a controlled manner at certain points around the
FGD unit. When this does not happen, the process may lose efficiency
or scaling may occur.

Chemical status of the process unit may be determined by analysis of

the aqueous solutions at various points around the unit to determine the
"quality of the liquor." The laboratory analyses required are completely
discussed in Volumes 1 and 2 of this handbook. These methods provide
the temperature, density, pH, and total concentrations of each of the
major anions and cations in solution. The FGDLIQEQ program util-
izes these data to compute the important chemical properties (process
indicators) that govern the mass transfer. These are the gas back pres-
sure, SO, alkalinity, solid-species relative saturation, and solid-solution
composition.

Gas back pressure is the evaporative vapor pressure of a gas directly

above the aqueous solution. The difference between this value and the
actual partial pressure is related to the "driving force" for absorption of
that gas by the solution. The SO, alkalinity of a solution is a measure of
its ability to absorb more SO,. The greater the value, the more SO, it can
hold without drastically increasing the SO, back pressure. The relative
saturation of a solid is a measure of that solid's tendency to dissolve or
precipitate. Values greater than one indicate that the solution is super-
saturated with respect to that solid; values less than one indicate that
the solution is subsaturated with respect to that solid. Solid-solution
mole fraction indicates the composition of any calcium sulfitelcalcium
sulfate precipitate.
input

The FGDLIQEQ program accepts data for one sample at a time. Input to
the program completes the following table:

The first five entries are for your identification purposes. Your answers
are merely repeated on the output screen.
Title of Output (80 characters maximum)
Sample Date (8 characters maximum)
Sampte Time (8 characters maximum)
Sample ID (4 characters maximum)
Stream Sampled (31 characters maximum)
The remaining entries are values used in the calculation, and therefore
they must be expressed in the units specified.

The format for the input is a series of questions, each followed by an

answer that is displayed in brackets. If you wish to accept the answer
displayed, press 4.If it is unacceptable, enter your new answer and
press 4.YOUmay change your current answer before you press 4 by
using the +- to back up the cursor. You may change a previous answer
only after you have answered all the questions.

After you have completedall the questions, you will be shown the above
table complete with your entries and asked if the input values are cor-
rect. If the table is correct, type Y and the calculation will proceed and
the results will tx!displayed (this step takes about three minutes). If the
table is incorrect, type N. You will be given all the input questions again,
in turn. As you proceed through the questions again, the displayed
answers in brackets will be those values that you entered previously.
Simply press 4 until you reach the incorrect answer.
Output

Upto three minutes may be requiredfor the FGDLIQEQ programto com-

plete the calculations. The computer will beep when the output is ready.
Output consists of the following table:

All of your input and output is contained in this table. Press Shift-PrtSc to
print this screen for your records. Numbers such as 1.231 -5 are short-
hand notation. This one is read as 1.231 x 1u5. Entriesthat represent cal-
culated results are shown below:
Ionic Strength is a measure of the electrostatic interaction between
charged species in the aqueous sotution. The calculation techniques
used in the FGDLlQEQ program require that the ionic strength be less
than two. All computed results should be suspect when the ionic
strength is greater than two.
OO
/Charge Balance is a measure of the electroneutrality of the aque-
ous solution. If the input from the laboratory analysis is perfect, then
the % charge balance is zero. An acceptable value is .+. 15%.
SO2Alkalinity measures the SO, absorbing capacity of the solution. It
is reported as the additional SO, that can be absorbed in the liquor
before the SO2back pressure is 100 ppmv.
Reiative Saturation is a measure of the solution's tendency to dissolve
or precipitate a solid. Values greater than one indicate precipitation,
white values less than one indicate dissolution of any of that solid.
Gas Back Pressure is the evaporative vapor pressure of a gas above
the solution. The difference between this value and the actual partial
pressure in the gas is roughly proportional to the "driving force" for
absorption of that gas,
Solid-SolutionMole Fraction is nonzero whenever a solid solution will
precipitate.
A more detailed description of these process indicators is given in
Volume 1.
Minimum System Requirements
IBM PC or XT or Compaq Computer
192KB RAM
1 disk drive
PC-DOS(MS-DOS) 1.1 or 2.0 Operating System
8087 Math Coprocessor . . . . . recommended
Printer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . recommended

Installation
The FGDLlQEQ program is delivered on a 5lk-in. floppy diskette. This
original diskette is write protected and should serve as a permanent
backup. A working copy containing your DOS, which may be used to
"boot" the system, must be made as follows:
If You Have a Single Drive System:
1. Place your DOS master in drive A:
2. Type FORMAT A:IS
Follow the system prompts.
3. After the new diskette has been formatted, place the FGDLIQEQ
master in drive A:
4. Type COPY A:*. *B:
Follow the system prompts-
Insert new diskette when prompted for drive B:
Insert FGDLIQEQ master when prompted for drive A:
If You Have a Double Drive System:
1. Place your DOS master in drive A:
2. Place new diskette in drive B:
3. Type FORMAT B:IS
4. After the new diskette has been formatted, place the FGDLIQEQ
master in drive A:
5. Type COPY A:*. B:

Running the Program

To start the program, place the new diskette in drive A: and type
RUNFGD. Alternatively, if the computer is off, place the new diskette in
drive A: and turn the system on.
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