Methods for treating a gas flow containing sulfur oxide

Claim 1

A process for treating a gas flow in the form of stack gases containing a sulphur oxide, said process comprising the steps of: conducting the gas upwardly within a chimney-like element defining a contact zone, and treating said gas with an agent disposed on contact elements in the form of balls located in the contact zone, the volume of the agent being less than the volume of the contact elements, said treating step including releasing said contact elements in said contact zone for free and uniform downward falling movement through the rising gas flow such that all of said elements fall freely and uniformly downwardly through the rising gas flow in a path limited solely by upright side walls of the contact zone, whereby the average distance which said contact elements travel relative to the gas flow between collisions is at least five times the longest dimension of said contact elements, said elements being released at a rate such that the total volume of the contact elements is less than 20% of the volume of the contact zone.