Sulfur recirculation is a new technology for reducing boiler corrosion and dioxin formation. It was demonstrated
in full-scale tests at a Waste to Energy plant in Göteborg (Sweden) during nearly two months of
operation. Sulfur was recirculated as sulfuric acid from the flue gas cleaning back to the boiler, thus creating
a sulfur loop.
The new technology was evaluated by extensive measurement campaigns during operation under normal
conditions (reference case) and operation with sulfur recirculation. The chlorine content of both fly
ash and boiler ash decreased and the sulfur content increased during the sulfur recirculation tests. The
deposit growth and the particle concentration decreased with sulfur recirculation and the dioxin concentration
(I-TEQ) of the flue gas was reduced by approximately 25%. Sulfuric acid dew point measurements
showed that the sulfuric acid dosage did not lead to elevated SO3 concentrations, which may otherwise
induce low temperature corrosion.
In the sulfur recirculation corrosion probe exposures, the corrosion rate decreased for all tested materials
(16Mo3, Sanicro 28 and Inconel 625) and material temperatures (450 C and 525 C) compared to the reference
exposure. The corrosion rates were reduced by 60–90%. Sulfur recirculation prevented the formation
of transition metal chlorides at the metal/oxide interface, formation of chromate and reduced the presence
of zinc in the corrosion products. Furthermore, measured corrosion rates at 525 C with sulfur recirculation
in operation were similar or lower compared to those measured at 450 C material temperature in reference
conditions, which corresponds to normal operation at normal steam temperatures. This implies that sulfur
recirculation allows for higher steam data and electricity production without increasing corrosion.