NSF Award
9561810
9561810 Wojtowicz This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project addresses the problem of removal and recovery of mercury from combustion/incineration flue gas with concurrent control of SO2 and NOX. Coal combustion and incineration of municipal and hazardous wastes result in air pollution due to emissions of trace amounts of heavy metals. Because of high toxicity of these species, their emissions are or will be regulated. High volatility of mercury makes control of this metal particularly difficult. The project approach is based on regenerative adsorption on novel sorbents. A proprietary adsorption/stripping/regeneration scheme is used, with mercury recovery downstream of the regenerator. The preferred location for the adsorption unit is directly before the stack, which makes retrofitting an easier task, and also makes it possible to carry out adsorption at relatively low temperatures (70 to 200 degrees C). The success of the project hinges upon the proof of sorbent performance, which is the objective of the Phase I research. To date, no technology is available for mercury removal from combustion/incineration gases. The objective of the Phase I project is to demonstrate (1) high mercury removal efficiencies; and (2) the technical and economic feasibility of the proposed process. The project will be carried out in three tasks: (1) selection and preparation of sorbents; (2) assembling and testing the experimental set-up; and (3) sorption/regeneration experiments. The main result of this research will be a novel technology for the removal of mercury from combustion flue gas, with simultaneous reduction in SO2 and NOX levels. Future extension of this process to other pollutants (e.g., other volatile air toxics, N2O, etc.) is also possible. Applications for the process include: coal fired power plants as well as municipal, medical, and hazardous waste incinerators.
