A portable, continuous system for mercury speciation in flue gas and process gases

Abstract

During fuel combustion, mercury in the form of Hg0 and Hg2 + is emitted to the atmosphere. Effective reduction of mercury emission requires the application of speciation systems for emission control and research. To study the speciation of mercury in flue gas a portable and continuous system was constructed. The speciation system is based on the wet method of Hg2 + transformation to Hg0. The main part of the system is the Nippon Instrument Corporation EMP-2 WLE-8 set. In order to operate in flue gas from coal burning the Nippon Instrument Corporation set was equipped with the following devices: fly ash filter, steel probe, transfer line, and the tee connector. The portable, continuous system was successfully tested in the laboratory and during the industrial tests in Poland and the Czech Republic. The described system was also used to determine mercury in the process gases (low-temperature pyrolysis of coal). The results of mercury speciation in flue gas were compared with Durag HM 1400 TRX system.