A New Approach for Retaining Mercury in Energy Generation Processes: Regenerable Carbonaceous Sorbents

Nuria Fernández-Miranda, Elena Rodríguez, Maria Antonia Lopez-Anton, Roberto García and Maria Rosa Martínez-Tarazona
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Nuria Fernández-Miranda: Instituto Nacional del Carbón (CSIC), Francisco Pintado Fe, 26, 33011 Oviedo, Spain
Elena Rodríguez: Instituto Nacional del Carbón (CSIC), Francisco Pintado Fe, 26, 33011 Oviedo, Spain
Maria Antonia Lopez-Anton: Instituto Nacional del Carbón (CSIC), Francisco Pintado Fe, 26, 33011 Oviedo, Spain
Roberto García: Instituto Nacional del Carbón (CSIC), Francisco Pintado Fe, 26, 33011 Oviedo, Spain
Maria Rosa Martínez-Tarazona: Instituto Nacional del Carbón (CSIC), Francisco Pintado Fe, 26, 33011 Oviedo, Spain

Energies, 2017, vol. 10, issue 9, 1-11

Abstract: The energy production processes from fossil fuels represent the first anthropogenic source of mercury emissions in Europe and the second in the world. Among the different possibilities that can be posed to reduce these emissions, this work focuses on the use of regenerable sorbents based on gold nanoparticles dispersed on activated carbon foam. The use of regenerable sorbents would not only allow the objective of reducing mercury emissions, but also avoiding the generation of new toxic wastes. The results showed a retention efficiency of 100% and a retention capacity close to 600 µg·g −1 over several cycles of regeneration. Moreover, acid gases did not poison the support. It was observed that mercury capture in this simulated oxy-combustion atmosphere was a consequence of two mechanisms: (1) the amalgamation of elemental mercury and elemental gold and (2) the oxidation of elemental mercury in the presence of HCl, with the subsequent retention of the oxidized mercury on the surface of the activated carbon foam. The nanodispersion of gold on such supports involves a high initial investment. However, this would be counterbalanced by the remarkable regeneration capacity of the sorbent and the possibility of recovering all the materials used.

Keywords: mercury; regenerable sorbent; combustion; energy generation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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