Evaluating sorbents produced from waste to remove mercury in simulated flue gases from coal combustion

Coal-fired utility plants are the largest anthropogenic source of mercury emiSSIOns. Mercury abatement legislation for these plants is in place in Canada and U.S.A. Several facilities are achieving mercury emission reductions by using commercial activated carbons. However, these carbons are expensive. The present project aimed to determine mercury capture efficiencies of some fly ashes and sorbents produced from scrap tyre rubber and sewage sludge, compared to the effectiveness of commercial active carbons. E.U. legislation limits the methods available for disposing of waste materials, using them to manufacture sorbents provides a cost-effective disposal solution. A novel bench scale fixed-bed sorbent test system was designed and built for evaluating mercury capture efficiencies of sorbents by exposing the samples to different gaseous atmospheres. Pre-treating selected sorbents with a gas stream containing either NOx or HCl gave information on the effect of acid gases. Thermal desorption experiments completed on spent sorbents provided indications regarding the adsorption process.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo