For ammonia flue gas desulfurization (FGD), the sulfite to sulfate oxidation is very critical for industrial applications. This paper reports a novel corona plasma-induced oxidation technique to convert concentrated ammonium sulfites to sulfates in an aqueous solution. The streamer corona plasmas are generated with a dc superimposed ac power source. Ammonium sulfite solution is sprayed in a reactor by using two-phase nozzles. When the sulfite concentration is around 1–3 mol/L , the oxidation efficiency after one-cycle processing is in the range of 20–60%. Multiple-cycle treatments can be used to improve the oxidation efficiency. The energy consumption is around 20 W/ mol . Based on the present investigations, we anticipate that an industrial plasma-assisted ammonium FGD can be applied in industries.
