Results from the low level mercury sorbent test at the Oak Ridge Y-12 Plant in Tennessee

A mercury sorbent test was performed near the headwaters of the Upper East Fork Poplar Creek at the Oak Ridge Y-12 Plant in Tennessee. The sorbents SIR-200 (ResinTech), Keyle:X (SolmeteX), and GT-73 (Rohm and Haas) were the best materials tested for low level mercury removal. Each of these sorbents has a thiol-based active site. None of the tested sorbents reduced the mercury concentration to less than the existing 12 ng/l NPDES limit. For this small scale test, SIR-200, Keyle:X, and GT-73 reduced the mercury concentration to less than 51 ng/l, which is a regulatory treatment goal. The other sorbents tested, including granular activated carbon (Filtrasorb 300), did not reduce the mercury concentration below 51 ng/l at any tested flow up to 5 bed volumes per minute. Because of the cost and large volume of sorbent, a wastewater treatment plant for this stream would be prohibitively expensive to construct and maintain.