NOVEL PROCESS FOR REMOVAL AND RECOVERY OF VAPOR-PHASE MERCURY

The purpose of this project is to investigate the application of a sorbent-based process for removing and recovering mercury in the flue gas of coal-fired power plants. The process is based on the sorption of mercury by noble metals and the regeneration of the sorbent by thermal means, recovering the desorbed mercury for recycling. ADA Technologies holds a patent on this process (US 5,409,522) and has tested it under conditions typical of municipal waste incinerators. In this process, the noble metal sorbent is thermally regenerated, and the mercury is recovered for commercial recycle or disposal. ADA has adopted the name ''Mercu-RE'' to describe its process. ADA has been testing its process under conditions typical of coal-fired power plants where the mercury concentration is low (below 10 {micro}g/m{sup 3}) and little pressure drop can be tolerated. The objective of this program is to develop the Mercu-RE process as a suitable mercury emission control technology for use at coal-fired power plants