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The fate of mercury collected from air pollution control devices
Citation:
Senior, C. L., S. THORNELOE, AND B. Khan. The fate of mercury collected from air pollution control devices. EM: AIR AND WASTE MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION'S MAGAZINE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGERS. Air & Waste Management Association, Pittsburgh, PA, ,(7):15-21, (2009).
Impact/Purpose:
Journal article
Description:
The mercury that enters a coal-fired power plant, originates from the coal that is burned, and leaves through the output streams that include stack emissions and air pollution control (APC) residues (either in solid or liquid form). This article describes recent fmdings on the fate and environmental stability of mercury in coal combustion residues (CCRs) such as fly ash and solid products from flue gas desulfurization (FGD) scrubbers when either disposed or reuse in agricultural, commercial, or engineering applications. New environmental regulations in the U.S. will result in lower mercury air emissions, but potentially more mercury in CCRs. The average mercury content in U.S. coals is 0.1 p,g/g (Table 1).2 All mercury in the fuel is converted to elemental mercury vapor during coal combustion. As the flue gas cools, some of the elemental mercury may be oxidized. Both gaseous elemental and oxidized mercury can be adsorbed on suspended particles (fly ash), which consists of inorganic ash and unburned carbon. At the inlet of the air pollution control devices (APCDs), mercury can
