Mercury and air toxic element impacts of coal combustion by-product disposal and utilization. Final report (for the period January 23, 2003 - December 31, 2006)
- and others
The air toxic elements (ATEs) evaluated in this project were arsenic, cadmium, chromium, lead, nickel, and selenium. The study included laboratory tasks to develop measurement techniques for mercury and ATE releases, sample characterization, and release experiments. A field task was also performed to measure mercury releases at a field site. Results of laboratory evaluations indicated that: mercury and sometimes selenium are collected with activated carbon (AC) used for mercury emission control and, therefore present at higher concentrations than samples collected without mercury emission controls present. Mercury is stable on CCBs collected from systems both without and with mercury emission controls present under most conditions tested, with the exception of vapor-phase releases of mercury exposed to elevated temperatures. The presence of carbon either from added AC or from unburned coal can result in mercury being sorbed onto the CCB when exposed to ambient-temperature air. The environmental performance of the mercury captured on AC used as a sorbent for mercury emission control technologies indicated that current CCB management options will continue to be sufficiently protective of the environment, with the potential exception of exposure to elevated temperatures. The environmental performance of the other ATEs investigated indicated that current management options will be appropriate to the CCBs produced using AC in mercury emission controls. Field experiments vapor-phase releases at a CCB disposal site. Results indicated low-level vapor-phase mercury releases, as was generally noted in laboratory experiments for lignite fly ash samples. Laboratory methods were developed to evaluate the potential for mercury releases under several release mechanicals. 48 refs., 21 figs., 76 tabs., 21 apps.
- Research Organization:
- University of North Dakota, Grand Forks, ND (United States). Energy and Environmental Research Center
- OSTI ID:
- 21049884
- Report Number(s):
- 2007-EERC-10-03; TRN: 080700349
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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20 FOSSIL-FUELED POWER PLANTS
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
MERCURY
COMBUSTION
WASTE DISPOSAL
WASTE PRODUCT UTILIZATION
COORDINATED RESEARCH PROGRAMS
USA
COMBUSTION PRODUCTS
LEACHING
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS
BENCH-SCALE EXPERIMENTS
AIR POLLUTION CONTROL
TOXIC MATERIALS
TRACE AMOUNTS
ELEMENTS
ARSENIC
CADMIUM
LEAD
NICKEL
SELENIUM
ACTIVATED CARBON
BY-PRODUCTS
CAPTURE
SORBENT INJECTION PROCESSES
LIGNITE
COAL
PERFORMANCE
LEACHATES
PH VALUE
BITUMINOUS COAL
SUBBITUMINOUS COAL
SULFUR DIOXIDE
DESULFURIZATION
FLY ASH
MORPHOLOGY
COKE
CARBON
CONCENTRATION RATIO
DESORPTION
FLUE GAS
FOSSIL-FUEL POWER PLANTS
BORON
VANADIUM
MOLYBDENUM
CALCIUM COMPOUNDS
ADSORBENTS