Comparison of Mercury Retention by Fly Ashes Using Different Experimental Devices

To study mercury (Hg) retention in solid sorbents, researchers generally employ similar laboratory-scale devices. However, despite their similarities, these devices are generally used under different experimental conditions. The Hg concentration in the gas phase, gas flow, and sorbent-bed characteri...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: López Antón, María Antonia, Abad Valle, Patricia, Díaz Somoano, Mercedes, Perry, Ron, Snape, Colin E., Cheng-gong, Sun, Martínez Tarazona, María Rosa
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión aceptada para publicación
Fecha de publicación:2009
País:España
Institución:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Repositorio:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
OAI Identifier:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/128478
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/128478
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Mercury
Fly ash
Coal combustion
Descripción
Sumario:To study mercury (Hg) retention in solid sorbents, researchers generally employ similar laboratory-scale devices. However, despite their similarities, these devices are generally used under different experimental conditions. The Hg concentration in the gas phase, gas flow, and sorbent-bed characteristics are variables that influence the contact time, mass transfer, and kinetics and may greatly modify the quantities of Hg retained when the same sorbents are compared. These differences in the experimental conditions do not impede an evaluation of the sorbents as long as the results obtained points toward the same qualitative conclusions. However, the extent of variation needs to be defined to avoid misinterpretation. To illustrate the range of interpretations, the results of a preliminary approach using four experimental devices in two laboratories have been compared in this work. All the experiments were carried out under a nitrogen atmosphere and Hg0 in the gas phase. The same sorbents were employed in all the devices. These were fly ashes obtained from the combustion of coals of different rank and with different unburned carbon contents. From the results obtained it can be inferred that it is necessary to strictly control the influence of the experimental variables to infer a correct interpretation of the results.