Factors Affecting Mercury Emissions from Coal Fired Combustors

This work investigated some of the factors affecting mercury emissions from coal fired power plants. The research was conducted in three studies. The first study involved the use of a lab scale 0.10 MWth fluidized bed combustor (FBC) to investigate the effects of the Ca/S mole ratio, co-firing municipal solid waste (MSW), combustion conditions and coal chlorine concentration on mercury emissions. The second and third study presented an unprecedented opportunity to study several coals at the same commercially operated 100 MWth boiler. The second study focused on comparing two methods of measuring mercury in flue gas, the Ontario Hydro Method (OHM) and semi-continuous emissions monitoring (SCEM). The third study focused on the mechanism of mercury transformation in flue gas. The data from all the studies lead to the development of a mechanism for the transformation of mercury.