You are here:
CHARACTERIZATION OF MERCURY EMISSIONS AT A CHLOR-ALKALI PLANT, VOLUME I. REPORT AND APPENDICES A-E
Citation:
Kinsey*, J S. CHARACTERIZATION OF MERCURY EMISSIONS AT A CHLOR-ALKALI PLANT, VOLUME I. REPORT AND APPENDICES A-E. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, EPA/600/R-02/007a (NTIS PB2003-100241), 2002.
Impact/Purpose:
Information
Description:
The report gives results of a characterization of mercury (Hg) emissions at a chlor-alkali plant. Up to 160 short tons (146 Mg) of Hg is consumed by the chlor-alkali industry each year. Very little quantitative information is currently available however, on the actual Hg losses from these facilities. The Hg cell building roof vent is considered to be the most significant potential emission point in chlor-alkali plants, especially when the cells are opened for maintenance. Because of their potential importance, chlor-alkali plants have been identified as needing more accurate measurements of Hg emissions. To obtain a better understanding of the fate of Hg with- in their manufacturing process, the Olin Corporation voluntarily agreed to cooperate with the U.S. EPA in a comprehensive study of the Hg emissions from their Augusta, GA, facility, in collaboration with other members of the Chlorine Institute, representing the active chlor-alkali plants in the U.S. To investigate the Hg releases from the Olin chlor-alkali facility, EPA's National Risk Management Research laboratory, Air Pollution Prevention and Control Division (APPCD) in North Carolina organized a special study involving multiple organizations and personnel. However, only the research conducted by APPCD, involving roof vent monitoring and air flow studies conducted in the Olin cell building, is discussed in the report. The overall objective of monitoring the Hg cell building roof vent was to determine the total elemental mercury mass flux from the cell building under a range of wintertime meteorological conditions.