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ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL OF TOXIC METAL AIR EMISSIONS FROM THE COMBUSTION OF COAL AND WASTES
Citation:
Wendt, J. L., S. B. Davis, T. K. Gale, W. S. Seames, AND W P. Linak*. ENVIRONMENTAL CONTROL OF TOXIC METAL AIR EMISSIONS FROM THE COMBUSTION OF COAL AND WASTES. Presented at Symposium on Energy Engineering in the 21st Century, Hong Kong, P.R. China, 1/9-13/2000.
Description:
The paper is concerned with the partitioning of toxic metals (e.g., arsenic, selenium, mercury, chromium, lead, and cadmium) during combustion, and with the mitigation of their effect on the environment using high-temperature sorbents. The paper is divided into three parts: (1) the partitioning of arsenic and selenium during coal combustion in a 17-kW laboratory down-fired furnace is discussed, and appropriate mechanisms identified; (2) the speciation of mercury and chromium during combustion is addressed, through special experiments in an 82-kW refractory-lined combustor; and (3) experimental results are presented on the sorption of individual and multiple metals on sorbents. The sorbents, kaolinite and lime, were injected directly into flue gas containing lead and cadmium, which had vaporized in the main flame. Results suggest that toxic metals from coal and waste combustion can interact with lime or kaolinite sorbents and that, for some multiple metal mixtures, designer sorbents containing calcium, aluminum, and silicon might be useful to capture them and render them environmentally benign.