Removing Hg from flue gas via Molecular Sieves - Post 2

[Moosebreath94]

Many years ago I built a small O2 generator that concentrated O2 from the atmosphere utilizing pressure swing absorption and molecular sieves. I think they do the same thing for concentrating N.

 

I seem to recall that there were a few fellows with advanced chemistry degrees designing boutique catalysts and molecular sieves for the refining and petrochemical industy, and they where doing quite well financially.

 

I have a number of power plants as customers. I have some friends that are to be layed off this April due to plant closures. The issue is Hg in the plant stack gas emissions. The current corporate removal stategy is sorption on activated carbon.

 

Would anyone here have knowledge of a mol sieve or catalyst, regenerable via temp or pressure, that could be used to selectively remove Hg?

[Wilmot McCutchen]

Hg removal from flue gas by sorption on sponge coke will not be feasible at the huge scale required. Lab scale chemistry can't possibly scale up to handle the huge volumes of hot and dirty flue gas emitted by a utility boiler. Better would be separation of Hg along with fly ash in a scalable kinematic separator based on the open von Karman geometry. See http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1001605814600196 Hg molecules have a higher momentum than N2 and H2O, although at thermal equilibrium all molecules in flue gas have the same kinetic energy, so Hg can't follow the convergent flow path of the low molecular weight fractions, N2 and H2O, through the vortex cores to axial extraction. So Hg vapor gets spun out to collection in a shrouding tank, along with fly ash and CO2.