Experiment on Hg0 removal from flue gas by sodium chlorite solution

The important to enhancing gaseous elemental mercury (Hg⁰) removal in wet scrubber systems is altering the chemical form of the Hg⁰ to a water-soluble oxidized species. Experiments on the removal elemental mercury from simulated flue gas by aqueous sodium chlorite in a bubble reactor were carried out in this work. The effect of initial oxidizing solution concentration, reaction temperature, pH and SO₂ concentration on mercury oxidative absorption in sodium chlorite were investigated. The results indicate that the higher concentration of sodium chlorite favors Hg⁰ removal, whose efficiency is greater in acidic than alkaline solution. High temperature inhibits Hg⁰ absorption in aqueous sorbent when reaction temperature is lower than about 40□, and the removal efficiency increases whereas temperature is higher than about 40□. The SO₂ concentration did not significantly affect the efficiency of Hg⁰ removal.