Patents Assigned to Virginia Accelerators Corporation
  • Patent number: 5695616
    Abstract: A flue-gas scrubbing arrangement removes sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxides from stack gases at low energy costs and converts these into non-noxious ammonium sulfate-nitrate, which is utilizable as an agricultural fertilizer. The flue gases, cleaned of fly ash, pass through a spray dryer, where water is spray-injected to cool and humidify the gas. Then the humidified gas passes through an e-beam reactor where high energy electrons bombard water and oxygen to create strong reagents that react with the SO.sub.2 and NO.sub.X to form sulfuric and nitric acids. These react with ammonia gas that is injected into the flue gas stream to form sulfate and nitrate salts of ammonia. The ammonia should be present in near stoichiometric amounts relative to the sulfur and nitrogen oxides. The flue gas with the moisture and entrained salts pass to a wet precipitator, where the salts are removed in aqueous solution, and the remaining, scrubbed flue gases pass to the stack.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: September 27, 1995
    Date of Patent: December 9, 1997
    Assignees: Virginia Accelerators Corporation, Research-Cotrella Companies, Inc.
    Inventors: Dennis Helfritch, Ralph D. Genuario