Mercury Removal from Flue Gas by Noncarbon Sorbents

Mercury emitted from coal-fired power production industries is an enormous threat to human health and ecosystems. Sorbent injection is a promising and feasible strategy for mercury removal from the flue gas. Activated carbons (ACs) are the most explored mercury sorbents, which generally displayed high adsorption capacity. However, ACs still suffer from some disadvantages, such as impeding the utilization of fly ash in concrete production, difficulty to be regenerated for recycle, and so on. Thus, many noncarbon sorbents have been developed as supplementary options besides ACs for mercury removal. A review on the recent progress regarding noncarbon sorbents for removing mercury is provided. In this contribution, the Hg-0 removal capacities of natural minerals, waste-derived sorbents, metal oxides, metal sulfides, and magnetic adsorbents have been summarized. Particularly, the modification methods as well as their intrinsic roles for each types of noncarbon sorbents have been presented and discussed in depth. This work provides guidance for the design and exploration of noncarbon adsorbents, which can be applied in both coal-fired power plants and other nonpower production industries.

Automated summary

Mercury emissions from coal-fired power production pose a significant threat to human health and ecosystems, with activated carbons being the most explored sorbents for mercury removal. However, noncarbon sorbents have been developed as supplementary options due to the limitations of activated carbons. This review summarizes the recent progress on noncarbon sorbents for mercury removal and provides guidance for the design and exploration of new adsorbents.