Patent Application: US-7398602-A

Abstract:
a method of treating a coal combustion flue gas , which includes injecting a molecular halogen or thermolabile molecular halogen precursor , such as calcium hypochlorite , able to decompose to form molecular halogen at flue gas temperature . the molecular halogen converts elemental mercury to mercuric halide , which is adsorbable by alkaline solids such as subbituminous or lignite coal ash , alkali fused bituminous coal ash , and dry flue gas desulphurization solids , capturable in whole or part by electrostatic precipitators , baghouses , and fabric filters , with or without subsequent adsorption by a liquid such as a flue gas desulphurization scrubbing liquor .

Description:
molecular halogen sources such as chlorine gas , bromine gas or iodine can be used alone or in combination with molecular halogen precursors . due to cost , chlorine gas is a preferred molecular halogen source . non - limiting examples of thermolabile halogen species , able to decompose thermally at flue gas temperatures , typical of coal - fired power plants , are shown in table 1 below : urano describes the thermal decomposition of calcium hypochlorite ca ( ocl ) 2 quantitatively ( urano , saburo . 1928 . “ studies on bleaching powder , vii . the decomposition of calcium hypochlorite by heat in the presence of calcium chloride ”. journal of the society of chemical industry of japan . volume 31 , pages 46 - 52 ). he analyzed the products ( in solid and gaseous states ) after heating mixtures of calcium hypochlorite and calcium chloride cacl 2 . the decomposition of calcium hypochlorite in the presence of sufficient calcium chloride was chiefly according to the following reaction : the evolution of chlorine was caused by the mutual reaction of calcium hypochlorite with calcium chloride . molecular bromine can be generated by thermal decomposition of a dehydrated bromide salt solution in the presence of oxygen , for example magnesium bromide solution . molecular iodine can be generated by thermal decomposition of a dehydrated iodide containing salt solution such as a potassium tri - iodide solution . the conversion of mercury to its mercuric halide forms is thermodynamically favoured at temperatures typical of coal combustor flue gas , especially coal combustor flue gas between economizer inlets and esps , fgds , bhs or ffs , as indicated by the negative values for the free energy of formation of mercuric halides , from elemental mercury and molecular halogen , in kilojoules / mole as a function of celsius temperature as shown in the table 2 below , ( chase , m . w . et al . 1985 . “ janaf thermochemical tables ”, third edition , parts i and ii , journal of physical and chemical reference data , american chemical society and the american institute of physics for the natural bureau of standards , volume 14 , supplements i and ii ): the larger the negative free energy of formation , the more likely the reaction is to proceed . clearly from table 2 , it can be seen that the formation of mercuric chloride from elemental mercury and molecular chlorine is particularly favoured between 127 and 527 ° c . typical of post - superheater coal combustor flue gas zones . this is fortunate , because the costs of molecular chlorine and molecular chlorine precursors , is lower than their bromine or iodine counterparts . the following examples illustrate the flexibility of the current invention and a rational , non - limiting basis for controlling mercury emissions via enhanced conversion of mercury to alkali adsorbable mercuric halide , especially mercuric chloride . senior et al have estimated a rate constant k for the hg °+ cl 2 = hgcl 2 reaction of 1 . 07 * 10 − 15 cm 3 molecule − 1 second − 1 at 500 ° c . for an isothermal plug flow reactor ( senior , c . i . et al . 2000 . “ gas - phase transformations of mercury in coal - fired power plants ”. fuel processing technology . 63 : 197 - 213 ). the room temperature rate for the same reaction is estimated at 4 * 10 − 15 cm 3 molecule − 1 second − 1 . the activation energy for the reaction was estimated at 3 . 7 kilojoules / mole . galbreath and zarlicke describe mercury species derived from combustion of subbituminous absaloka prb coal ( see galbreath et al ., supra ). this coal had 50 ± 10 ppm chloride and 0 . 052 ± 0 . 005 ppm mercury content with 0 . 57 % sulphur . absaloka coal combustion flue gas composition was 410 ppmv so 2 , 960 ppmv no x and 3 ppmv hcl . baseline flue gas mercury emissions for this coal in μg / m 3 were 2 . 28 hg °, 1 . 06 hgx 2 ( includes mercuric chloride ), 2 . 26 hg particulate and 5 . 53 mercury total . 100 ppmv hcl spiking of absaloka coal combustion flue gas resulted in 1 . 21 hgx 2 . senior et al have provided correlations between chloride content of coal , hcl and cl 2 emissions during coal combustion senior et al ., supra . typically , 1 % of the hcl injected converts to cl 2 , which means 0 . 5 ppmv cl 2 would create 0 . 15 μg / m 3 hgcl 2 . table 3 below illustrates mercury emissions from subbituminous absaloka coal ( galbreath , supra .). the upper part of the table shows measured mercury emissions derived from combustion of the coal . the bottom part of the table estimates elemental mercury conversion to mercuric chloride using 5 ppmv molecular chlorine injection into flue gas starting at 500 ° c . of particular interest is the fact that 40 % of the total mercury emission is unoxidized i . e . elemental mercury ( 2 . 21 / 5 . 53 = 40 %) in the absence of the molecular chlorine spike . reaction rate k is derived from data discussed previously ( see senior et al ., supra .). note that elemental mercury is estimated at only 2 . 9 % of the baseline case ( 0 . 16 / 5 . 53 = 2 . 9 %). spiking of the flue gas of this subbituminous coal combustion , even at the low molecular chlorine level of 5 ppmv , results in substantial conversion of elemental mercury into the highly desirable , easily adsorbable , mercuric chloride form . use of a thermolabile molecular chlorine precursor such as a solution of calcium hypochlorite and calcium chloride , able to generate alkaline solids such as calcium oxide cao , enhances mercury capture in esps , ffs and bhs , for all of the reasons cited previously . clearly , this method of mercury oxidation via molecular halogen sources , such as thermolabile calcium hypochlorite / calcium chloride aqueous mixtures , can be adjusted in numerous advantageous ways e . g . by varying ( i ) droplet size during injection into flue gas , ( ii ) concentration of thermolabile species , ( iii ) dosing level , etc . this technique complements current mercury capturing devices , having an alkaline subbituminous fly ash , including esps , ffs or bhs . table 4 below illustrates mercury emissions in lbs / hour as measured after an esp , in a bituminous coal - fired combustor , with and without the addition of lime plus a lime flux as described in u . s . pat . no . 6 , 250 , 235 ( oehr et al .). in this case the “ additive ” to coal ash ratio ranged from 0 . 81 - 0 . 85 . lime and flux represented 91 % and 9 % respectively of the additive formula . x - ray diffraction analysis of the fly ash resulting from the use of the “ additive ” indicated that the fly ash was cementitious and alkaline . the cementitious alkaline fly ash resulting from the use of the additive is a good sorbent for oxidized mercury , because oxidized mercury emissions were reduced by ( 2 . 13 − 0 . 57 )/ 2 . 13 = 73 % due to use of the additive . the flue gas lacked sufficient molecular halogen to effect substantial oxidation of elemental mercury ( i . e . only 28 % drop from baseline case ). it is certain that injection of a molecular halogen source , such as calcium hypochlorite / calcium chloride aerosol or chlorine gas , at an appropriate dose , in the economizer / esp section of this combustor , in similar fashion to example 1 , would effect substantial conversion of elemental mercury to easily adsorbable mercuric halide such as mercuric chloride . for instance , a 97 . 6 % reduction in elemental mercury via its conversion to adsorbable mercuric chloride , in similar fashion to example 1 , without a corresponding increase in particulate and oxidized mercury would result in the following levels of mercury control vs . the baseline case shown in table 5 below : this 90 % reduction in mercury emissions would satisfy epa requirements without destroying the fly ash recyclability , caused by inappropriate injection of a sorbent such as activated carbon . the value of the u . s . pat . no . 6 , 250 , 235 invention is clearly enhanced via the current invention . the technique described in the current example could also be applied ahead of other solids collection devices such as ffs and bhs . a canadian power plant burning high sulphur united states bituminous coal and equipped with a wet fgd reported the following mercury emissions at the esp outlet and wet fgd outlet in μg / m 3 shown in table 6 below . the data indicates that the fgd reduced mercury emissions 63 % versus the esp alone and reduced oxidized mercury emissions by 87 %. data indicates that ( 1 . 45 − 1 . 05 )/ 4 . 06 = 10 % of oxidized mercuy input to the fgd was reconverted to elemental mercury . using a similar 5 ppmv molecular cl 2 spike as in analogous fashion to example 1 above results in the following simulation shown in table 7 below : note that the techniques described above might be used in combination , to further enhance performance . for instance , the lime + flux ash fusion additive described in example 2 above could be combined with the fgd system in example 3 above plus the molecular halogen or thermolabile molecular halogen precursor of the current invention . this particular combination should easily achieve the 90 % epa mercury reduction requirement by trapping oxidized mercury in an alkaline fly ash thereby reducing oxidized mercury input to the fgd along with subsequent elemental mercury release . alternatively , a small amount of subbituminous or lignite coal also capable of creating alkaline fly ash could be blended with bituminous coal to increase oxidized mercury capture in the esp and subsequently reduce elemental mercury discharge from the fgd with or without techniques such as those described amrheim , supra . the above examples show that it is possible to achieve dramatic mercury emission reduction , through appropriate use of conventional installed equipment and techniques in combination with the teachings of the current invention . the above 3 examples are believed capable of achieving highly desirable conversion of elemental mercury to a mercuric halide , especially mercuric chloride , easily captured by existing pollution control devices including esps , bhs , ffs and wet or dry fgds burning a variety of coals . the above techniques can be used alone or supplemented with other techniques to enhance mercury capture in a cost effective way that eliminates undesirable contamination of fly ash with debris ( e . g . activated carbon ) rendering it unsuitable for recycling in cementitious applications . accordingly , while this invention has been described with reference to illustrative embodiments , this description is not intended to be construed in a limiting sense . various modifications of the illustrative embodiments , as well as other embodiments of the invention , will be apparent to persons skilled in the art upon reference to this description . it is therefore contemplated that the appended claims will cover any such modifications or embodiments as fall within the true scope of the invention . 3 . ide , akiro et al . 1988 . “ process for cleaning mercury - containing gaseous emissions ”. u . s . pat . no . 4 , 729 , 882 . march 8 . 4 . felsvang , k et al . 1995 . “ method for improving the hg - removing capability of a flue gas cleaning process ”. u . s . pat . no . 5 , 435 , 980 . july 25 . 5 . meischen , s . and j . van pelt . 2000 . “ method to control mercury emissions from exhaust gases ”. u . s . pat . no . 6 , 136 , 281 . october 24 . 6 . biswas , p . and c . wu . 2001 . “ process for the enhanced capture of heavy metal emissions ”. u . s . pat . no . 6 , 248 , 217 . june 19 . 7 . amrhein , gerald t . 2001 . “ mercury removal in utility wet scrubber using a chelating agent ”. u . s . pat . no . 6 , 328 , 939 . december 11 . 8 . galbreath , kevin c . and christopher zygarlicke . 2000 . “ mercury transformations in coal combustion flue gas ”. fuel processing technology . 65 - 66 . pages 289 - 310 . 9 . oehr , klaus h . and felix z . yao . 2001 . “ method and product for improved fossil fuel combustion ”. u . s . pat . no . 6 , 250 , 235 . june 26 . 10 . mendelsohn , m . h . 1999 . “ method for the removal of elemental mercury from a gas stream ”. u . s . pat . no . 5 , 900 , 042 . may 4 . 11 . singer , joseph g editor . 1991 . combustion fossil power . combustion engineering , inc . windsor , conn . 12 . dean , john a . 1992 . lange &# 39 ; s handbook of chemistry . mcgraw - 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( new york ) 13 . the merck index . 1996 . twelfth edition . merck & amp ; co . ( new jersey ) 14 . urano , saburo . 1928 . “ studies on bleaching powder , vii . the decomposition of calcium hypochlorite by heat in the presence of calcium chloride ”. journal of the society of chemical industry of japan . volume 31 , pages 46 - 52 . 15 . chase , m . w . et al . 1985 . “ janaf thermochemical tables ”, third edition , parts i and ii , journal of physical and chemical reference data , american chemical society and the american institute of physics for the natural bureau of standards , volume 14 , supplements i and ii . 16 . senior , c . i . et al . 2000 . “ gas - phase transformations of mercury in coal - fired power plants ”. fuel processing technology . 63 : 197 - 213 .