Mercury adsorption characteristics of carbon sorbent with low surface area

Several studies have been conducted to decrease the cost of sorbents used for the control of mercury emissions. Thus far, several sorbents with low surface areas have been reported to exhibit promising mercury removal capacities. However, based on the results reported, it is difficult to understand the mechanisms of adsorption and oxidization of elemental mercury on sorbents with low surface areas compared to those with higher surface areas. Three types of materials with different surface areas were evaluated herein for use as carbon sorbents for the adsorption of elemental mercury: (1) coal, (2) sewage sludge, and (3) unburned carbon. The respective raw sorbents and FeCl₃-impreganted congeners were evaluated. Each sorbent was tested in a fixed-bed reactor system under two simulated flue gas conditions (1) without and (2) with 20 ppm hydrogen chloride (HCl). The injection of HCl increased the mercury adsorption efficiency of all tested sorbents by decreasing the emission of elemental mercury. Doping the sorbent with FeCl₃ increased the mercury adsorption efficiency during the earlier test period under both simulated flue gas conditions (without and with HCl). FeCl₃-impregnated activated carbon and FeCl₃-impregnated unburned carbon emitted large amounts of oxidized mercury during the later test periods.Implications: We tested three types of sorbents to investigate the mercury adsorption characteristics of sorbents with low surface area. The mercury adsorption test was conducted by varying the raw material of the sorbent, chemical impregnation of the sorbent and the simulated flue gas composition. We found that HCl in simulated flue gas increased the mercury adsorption efficiency of both the raw and FeCl₃-impregnated sorbents by decreasing the emission of elemental mercury.