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1 year ago in Chemistry , Environmental Chemistry , Inorganic Chemistry By Pragya
What reactions occur when sulfur oxides are absorbed in sodium hydroxide solution?
My research involves optimizing scrubber designs for SOx removal. While the overall process is known, I need a precise, stepwise chemical account to model the system's kinetics and pH profile accurately. Textbooks often oversimplify it to a single neutralization reaction, but I suspect intermediate species like bisulfite play a key role.
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By Kirti Answered 5 months ago
Based on my work with wet scrubber systems, the absorption is a classic acid-base sequence, not a single step. First, SO? dissolves to form sulfurous acid: SO?(aq) + H?O ? H?SO?. This weak acid then reacts with NaOH. Initially, you get bisulfite formation: H?SO? + NaOH → NaHSO? + H?O. As more base is available or if the pH is controlled to be sufficiently high, neutralization to sulfite occurs: NaHSO? + NaOH → Na?SO? + H?O. I recommend closely monitoring pH, as it dictates the dominant sulfite species and the scrubber's efficiency.
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