title: Impact of sulfur oxides on mercury capture by activated carbon.
abstract: Recent field tests of mercury removal with activated carbon injection (ACI) have revealed that mercury capture is limited in flue gases containing high concentrations of sulfur oxides (SOx). In order to gain a more complete understanding of the impact of SOx on ACl, mercury capture was tested under varying conditions of SO2 and SO3 concentrations using a packed bed reactor and simulated flue gas (SFG). The final mercury content of the activated carbons is independent of the SO2 concentration in the SFG, but the presence of SO3 inhibits mercury capture even at the lowest concentration tested (20 ppm). The mercury removal capacity decreases as the sulfur content of the used activated carbons increases from 1 to 10%. In one extreme case, an activated carbon with 10% sulfur, prepared by H2SO4 impregnation, shows almost no mercury capacity. The results suggest that mercury and sulfur oxides are in competition for the same binding sites on the carbon surface.
authors.affiliation: National Energy Technology Laboratory, United States Department of Energy, P.O. Box 10940, MS 58-103A, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15236-0940, USA.
authors.forename: Albert A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Presto
authors.forename: Evan J
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Granite
mesh_terms: D002606:Charcoal / Q000737:chemistry*; D008628:Mercury / Q000737:chemistry*; D013458:Sulfur Dioxide / Q000737:chemistry; D013461:Sulfur Oxides / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D013461:Sulfur Oxides; D013458:Sulfur Dioxide; D002606:Charcoal; D008628:Mercury