Modeling of thermal desorption of Hg from activated carbon

Activated carbon adsorbs mercury from combustion flue gas, and this is exploited for the control of mercury emissions from coal-fired boilers and incinerators. The reaction pathway for the adsorption of mercury on activated carbon appears to be complex. The form of mercury that is adsorbed on activated carbon is likewise unknown. Experiments were carried out on vaporization of mercury compounds on non-treated, non-halogenated activated carbon in order to identify characteristics of the mercury compound adsorbed on the carbon and to assess the thermal stability of mercury once adsorbed. In these experiments, a solid material was heated in a boat in flowing air in the Ohio Lumex pyrolysis furnace. As the temperature of the boat was ramped up, the amount of mercury transferred to the gas was measured. A transient heat-transfer model was developed and coupled with a mercury vaporization model to predict, respectively, the heat-up and evolution of mercury from samples in the pyrolysis furnace. The model was able to reproduce the trends in the experimental observations, particularly the location of the peaks. The activation energy of mercury desorption in the model was used to distinguish between two different mercury species. The model also illustrated the effect of the thermal profile on mercury evolution in the pyrolysis furnace.