Simultaneous removal of NOx and SO2 with H2O2 over silica sulfuric acid catalyst synthesized from fly ash

Considering that the utilization of fly ash in the removal of flue gas pollutants not only provide a way of high value-added utilization of fly ash, but also greatly reduce the cost of removing flue gas pollutant, the synthesis of silica sulfuric acid catalyst from fly ash and its application in simultaneous removal of NOx and SO2 with H2O2 were investigated in this work. Circulating fluidized bed boiler (CFB) fly ash and pulverized coal boiler (PC) fly ash were selected as raw material to prepare silica sulfuric acid catalyst by H2SO4 activation. PC fly ash was difficult to be activated by H2SO4 due to its dense structure, while CFB fly ash could be treated with H2SO4 to promote dealumination, thereby increasing the silica content. Moreover, the -SO3H withdrawing groups were detected on the silica surface by XPS and Py-FTIR technologies, indicating the formation of silica sulfuric acid. Silica sulfuric acid showed higher activity in catalyzing the NO oxidation by H2O2, and a possible reaction mechanism was proposed. Combined with alkali absorption, 99% SO2 and 92% NOx removal efficiencies can be achieved. The effects of activation conditions such as activation temperature, activation time and calcination temperature and removal experimental parameters such as H2O2 concentration, SO2 concentration and simulated flue gas temperature on the catalytic performance were studied. Finally, the catalyst was not found to be deactivated for ten hours in the stability test.