Mercury emission and fate characteristics in various combustion sources

Lee, EunSong; Kim, Jintae; Choi, Yong-Kon; Park, Kyu-Ha; Lee, Chung Kyu; Shin, Wanho; Han, Soyoung; Back, Seung-Ki; Hong, Wonseok; Yoon, Hongsik; Yun, Jinhan

doi:.0..

DOI: https://doi.org/10.4491/eer.2024.436

Mercury emission and fate characteristics in various combustion sources

EunSong Lee¹, Jintae Kim¹, Yong-Kon Choi², Kyu-Ha Park², Chung Kyu Lee¹, Wanho Shin¹, Soyoung Han¹, Seung-Ki Back³, Wonseok Hong⁴, Hongsik Yoon¹^†, and Jinhan Yun¹^†

¹Department of Resources Recirculation Research, Korea Institute of Machinery & Materials, Republic of Korea
²Department of Environmental Technology, Korea Testing Laboratory, Republic of Korea
³Department of Environmental Energy Engineering, Suwon University, Republic of Korea
⁴Sung Kwang ENF Co. Ltd., Republic of Korea

Corresponding Author: Hongsik Yoon ,Tel: +82-41-868-7891 (H.Y.), +82-41-868-7502 (J.Y.) , Email: yoonhs@kimm.re.kr (H.Y.), jhyun@kimm.re.kr (J.Y.)
Jinhan Yun ,Tel: +82-41-868-7891 (H.Y.), +82-41-868-7502 (J.Y.) , Email: yoonhs@kimm.re.kr (H.Y.), jhyun@kimm.re.kr (J.Y.)

Received: July 16, 2024; Accepted: September 23, 2024.

ABSTRACT

In this study, we investigated the behavior and emission characteristics of Hg across diverse industrial combustion sources, such as coal-fired power plants, solid refuse fuel (SRF) power plants, medical waste incinerators, and industrial waste incinerators, as well as the development of emission factors, Among the facilities, the estimated Hg control efficiency was 86% for coal-fired power plants, 69% for SRF power plants, and over 95% for medical and industrial waste incinerators. The oxidation and regulation of elemental Hg (Hg0) are considered important factors in reducing Hg air emissions, with the flue gas HCl concentration being the primary factor affecting Hg oxidation. Particulate Hg was mainly controlled in the electrostatic precipitator (ESP) at the power plant, effectively capturing dust particles ranging from 10 to 100 µm. The emission factors estimated by measuring stack flue gas exhibited their highest values at SRF power plants, with an estimated average of 127±25 mg/ton, while the lowest values were observed for industrial waste incinerators, with an average of 2.5±0.3 mg/ton. This study is significant in that it provides a comparative analysis of various real industrial cases, and the Hg emission factors are expected to offer valuable data for estimating future national Hg air emissions.