Simulation of mercury emission control by activated carbon under confined-bed operations

Mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants have been a great environmental and regulatory concern due to the toxic nature of mercury and the significant amount of emissions from these plants. An effective method for controlling mercury emission is to employ activated carbon to adsorb mercury from the combustion flue gas. In this study, an activated carbon mercury sorption model was applied to simulate a confined-bed mercury emission control process. Model simulations were performed to generate dynamic mercury concentration profiles and the corresponding profiles of mercury uptake by activated carbon at various bed locations under various process conditions. The simulation parameters included flue gas flow rate, inlet mercury concentration, and adsorption bed temperature. The study has demonstrated the applicability of the model for simulating the process and provided insights into the mercury control process especially the effects of flue gas flow rate, inlet mercury concentration, and activated carbon bed temperature on the process. Such information is critically needed in the design and operation of a mercury emission control process involving activated carbon adsorption.