Chlorination of sulfur dioxide in a plasma arc photochemical reactor: Part II. Chlorination of sulfur dioxide

Abstract

The photochemical chlorination of sulfur dioxide was investigated experimentally. The photochemical reactor was the vortex-stabilized arc radiation source described in Part I. Aqueous inorganic solutions, providing selective wavelength filtration, were circulated through the inner annular region. The outer annulus served as the reaction volume. The dependence of the reaction on wavelength, reaction gas inlet temperature, pressure, and reactant flow rate was investigated. The amount of sulfur dioxide in the mixture was varied from 1/6 to 2/3 atmosphere. The photochemical rate of formation of sulfuryl chloride is best described by the rate expression: documentclass{article}pagestyle{empty}begin{document}$$ r = J - k_0 exp left[{ - frac{E}{{RT}}sqrt {J/left ({{rm SO}_2 } right)} } right]{rm } cdot left ({{rm SO}_{rm 2} {rm Cl}_{rm 2} } right) $$end{document} where J is the volumetric rate of light absorption and where k 0 and E have values of 0.0542 s 1/2 and −2.6 kcal/gmol, respectively.