Study on characteristics of elemental mercury adsorption by bamboo charcoal

The purpose of the present study was to develop cost-effective carbon-based sorbent using commercial bamboo charcoal (BC) which was produced from renewable bamboo precursor. The source, preparation methods, properties and application status of bamboo charcoal were summarized. The adsorptive potential of BC for elemental mercury was investigated through a parametric study conducted with a bench-scale bed. The effect of temperature, W/F, initial concentration and oxygen on mercury removal were analyzed. The results show that BC has strong adsorption capacity for mercury. The decrease of particle size of BC increases its BET surface area and pore volume, which can enhance its physisorption ability for elemental mercury. The increase of W/F prolongs the residence time of elemental mercury, thus improves the removal efficiency of elemental mercury. The increase of concentration of inlet mercury decreases the removal efficiency of elemental mercury. There is a best reaction temperature for the adsorption of mercury, and 60°C is found to be the optimal reaction temperature. The presence of oxygen can oxidize elemental mercury and further increase the adsorption ability for elemental mercury.