Effects of Magnesium and Ferric Ions on Crystallization of Calcium Sulfate Dihydrate Under the Simulated Conditions of Wet Flue-gas Desulfurization

The influences of magnesium and ferric ions in their different ratios on the rate of gypsum crystallization were studied under the conditions similar to those of wet flue-gas desulfurization(WFGD). The results show that addition of both Mg²⁺ and Fe³⁺ increased induction time and decreased the growth efficiency up to 50% compared with the baseline(without impurities) depending on the concentration and the type of impurity. The effects of Mg²⁺ and Fe³⁺ on the surface energy and the rate of nucleation were estimated by employing the classical nucleation theory. The surface energy decreased by 8% and 14% with the addition of 0.02 mol/L magnesium or ferric ions, respectively, compared to the baseline. Mg²⁺ and Fe³⁺ made the growth rate of the (020), (021) and (040) faces of gypsum crystal a much greater reduction, which leads to the formation of needle crystals compared to the baseline which favors the formation of plate or flakes. Furthermore, an edge detection program was developed to quantify the effects of impurities on the filtration rate of gypsum product. The results show that the inhibition efficiency of the presence of 0.02 mol/L Mg²⁺ and Fe³⁺ on the filtration rate of gypsum crystal ranges from 22% to 39%.