Demonstration of dry carbon-based sorbent injection for mercury control in utility ESPs and baghouses
- ADA Technologies, Inc., Englewood, CO (United States)
- Public Service Co. of Colorado, Denver, CO (United States)
- Electric Power Research Inst., Palo Alto, CA (United States)
- Dept. of Energy, Pittsburgh, PA (United States). Federal Energy Technology Center
Domestic coal-fired power plants emit approximately 40 to 80 metric tons of mercury to the atmosphere annually, approximately 30% of all mercury emissions from human activities. However, the mercury concentration in utility flue gas is in the extremely dilute range of 0.1 to 1 part per billion. The EPA is assessing whether such low concentrations of mercury emissions from coal-fired utilities pose any significant health risk and whether mercury regulations would be necessary or appropriate. In anticipation of possible mercury control regulations, DOE has funded Public Service Company of Colorado (PSCo) to evaluate carbon-based sorbents for mercury control at utility coal-fired power plants. Initial investigations of the use of dry carbon-based sorbent injection for mercury control on utility applications have shown that carbon-based sorbents are capable of removing gaseous phase mercury. Because of the difficulty in capturing and measuring mercury, however, it is important to evaluate these technologies extensively on actual utility flue gas. Testing is currently underway on a slipstream of flue gas from PSCo`s Comanche Station in Pueblo, Colorado. The test fixture is a 600 acfm particulate control module that can be configured as an electrostatic precipitator, a pulse-jet baghouse, or a reverse-gas baghouse. Sorbent is injected into the flue gas slipstream prior to the particulate control module, and is removed by the module. Flue gas temperature and sorbent residence time can be changed to evaluate a range of plant operating conditions. In addition, the effect of fly ash on mercury capture can be evaluated because the flue gas slipstream can be taken from either upstream or downstream of Comanche Station`s full-scale reverse-gas baghouse. This paper describes the results of initial pilot testing in both an electrostatic precipitator and a pulse-jet baghouse.
- OSTI ID:
- 351116
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-970677-; TRN: IM9925%%278
- Resource Relation:
- Conference: 90. annual meeting and exhibition of the Air and Waste Management Association, Toronto (Canada), 8-13 Jun 1997; Other Information: PBD: 1997; Related Information: Is Part Of 1997 proceedings of the Air and Waste Management Association`s 90. annual meeting and exhibition; PB: [7000] p.
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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