Patent ID: 7249564

Claim:
A method for capturing mercury in a flue gas formed by solid fuel combustion comprising: a. combusting a coal fuel in a combustion zone of a combustion system, wherein mercury released during combustion is entrained in flue gas generated by the combustion; b. generating a thermally activated carbon-containig solid sorbent and gaseous gasification products by partially gasifying a carbon solid fuel in a gasifier local to the combustion of solid fuel, wherein the gasifier is separate from the combustion system and the flue gas, and wherein the gasifier receives the carbon solid fuel, combusts the carbon solid fuel and generate the solid sorbent in the gasifier; c. separating the solid sorbent from the gaseous gasification products generated by the gasifier; d. the solid sorbent generated in the gasifier flows continuously and without interruption from the gasifier thruough a conduit to the flue gas; e. injecting the thermally activated solid sorbent in the flue gas and downstream of the combustion of fuel, and f. absorbing at least some of the mercury on the thermally activated solid sorbent, wherein the thermally activated solid sorbent is separate ed from gaseous gasification products prior to injection, and wherein the gaseous gasification products are injected into the combustion zone, which is upstream of the injection of the solid sorbent.