Application of sorbents for mercury control for utilities burning lignite coal

The Energy and Environmental Research Center (EERC) is conducting the first phase of a 3-year, two-phase U.S.-Canadian consortium project to develop and demonstrate mercury control technologies for utilities burning lignite coal. Control of mercury from lignite-fired plants is much more difficult in comparison to plants burning other ranks of coal. The overall project goal is to provide utilities that burn lignite coal with low-cost technology options for meeting future mercury emission regulations. Phase I objectives are to develop a better understanding of mercury interactions with flue gas constituents, test a range of sorbent-based technologies targeted at removal of elemental mercury from flue gases, and demonstrate the effectiveness of the most promising technologies at the pilot scale. The Phase II objective is to demonstrate and quantify technology, performance, and cost at a sponsor-owned/operated power plant. Preliminary results are presented for Phase I bench- and pilot-scale tests, and results are encouraging for continuation of Phase II activities, 0 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.