Raquel Ochoa-González

Analytical methods for mercury analysis in coal and coal combustion by-products

The work was performed thanks to several financial sources. The project CTM2004-04252-CO2-02/TECHNO from the Spanish National Research Plan, the support of CSIC (Spanish Nacional Research Council) for providing M. Antonia Lopez-Anton with a postdoctoral position, and the help of the Asturias Research Programme for funding both a doctoral fellowship for Raquel Ochoa-Gonzalez and the project PC10-20.

Influence of limestone characteristics on mercury re-emission in WFGD systems.

This work evaluates the influence of the effect of the properties of limestones on their reactivity and the re-emission of mercury under typical wet scrubber conditions. The influence of the composition, particle size, and porosity of limestones on their reactivity and the effect of sorbent concentration, pH, redox potential, and the sulphite and iron content of the slurry on Hg(0) re-emission was assessed. A small particle size, a high porosity and a low magnesium content increased the high reactivity of the limestones. Moreover, it was found that the higher the reactivity of the sample the greater the amount of mercury captured in the scrubber. Although sulphite ions did not cause the re-emission of mercury from the suspensions of the gypsums, the limestones enriched in iron increased Hg(0) re-emission under low oxygen conditions. It was observed that the low pH values of the gypsum suspensions favored the cocapture of mercury because Fe(2+) formation was avoided. The partitioning of the mercury in the byproducts of the scrubber depended on the impurities of the limestones rather than on their particle size. No leaching of mercury from the gypsum samples occurred suggesting that mercury was either tightly bound to the impurities of the limestone or was transformed into insoluble mercury species.

The capture of oxidized mercury from simulated desulphurization aqueous solutions.

Elemental mercury in flue gases from coal combustion is difficult to control. However, oxidized mercury species are soluble in water and can be removed with a high degree of efficiency in wet flue gas desulphurization (WFGD) systems operating in coal combustion plants, provided that no re-emissions occur. In this article the mechanisms affecting the re-emission of oxidized mercury species in WFGD conditions via sulphite ions are discussed. The parameters studied include the operating temperature, the pH, the redox potential, the concentrations of mercury and oxygen in the flue gas and the concentration of reductive ions in the solution. The results show that temperature, pH and the concentration of mercury at the inlet of the WFGD systems are the most important factors affecting oxidized mercury removal. The results indicate that sulphite ions, not only contribute to the reduction of Hg(2+), but that they may also stabilize the mercury in the liquid fraction of the WFGD limestone slurry. Consequently, factors that increase the sulphite content in the slurry such as a low oxygen concentration promote the co-capture of mercury with sulphur.

A comprehensive evaluation of the influence of air combustion and oxy-fuel combustion flue gas constituents on Hg0 re-emission in WFGD systems

This paper evaluates the influence of the main constituents of flue gases from coal combustion (CO2, O2, N2 and water vapor), in air and oxy-fuel combustion conditions on the re-emission of Hg(0) in wet scrubbers. It was observed that the concentration of water vapor does not affect the re-emission of mercury, whereas O2 and CO2 have a notable influence. High concentrations of O2 in the flue gas prevent the re-emission of Hg(0) due to the reaction of oxygen with the metals present in low oxidation states. High concentrations of CO2, which cause a decrease in the pH and the redox potential of gypsum slurries, reduce the amount of Hg(0) that is re-emitted. As a consequence, the high content of CO2 in oxy-fuel combustion may decrease the re-emission of Hg(0) due to the solubility of CO2 in the suspension and the decrease in the pH. It was also found that O2 affects the stabilization of Hg(2+) species in gypsum slurries. The results of this study confirm that the amount of metals present in limestone as well as the redox potential and pH of the slurries in wet desulphurization plants need to be strictly controlled to reduce Hg(0) re-emissions from power plants operating under oxy-fuel combustion conditions.

Study of boron behaviour in two spanish coal combustion power plants

A full-scale field study was carried out at two Spanish coal-fired power plants equipped with electrostatic precipitator (ESP) and wet flue gas desulfurisation (FGD) systems to investigate the distribution of boron in coals, solid by-products, wastewater streams and flue gases. The results were obtained from the simultaneous sampling of solid, liquid and gaseous streams and their subsequent analysis in two different laboratories for purposes of comparison. Although the final aim of this study was to evaluate the partitioning of boron in a (co-)combustion power plant, special attention was paid to the analytical procedure for boron determination. A sample preparation procedure was optimised for coal and combustion by-products to overcome some specific shortcomings of the currently used acid digestion methods. In addition boron mass balances and removal efficiencies in ESP and FGD devices were calculated. Mass balance closures between 83 and 149% were obtained. During coal combustion, 95% of the incoming boron was collected in the fly ashes. The use of petroleum coke as co-combustible produced a decrease in the removal efficiency of the ESP (87%). Nevertheless, more than 90% of the remaining gaseous boron was eliminated via the FGD in the wastewater discharged from the scrubber, thereby causing environmental problems.

Review ArticleAnalytical methods for mercury analysis in coal and coal combustion by-products

The work was performed thanks to several financial sources. The project CTM2004-04252-CO2-02/TECHNO from the Spanish National Research Plan, the support of CSIC (Spanish Nacional Research Council) for providing M. Antonia Lopez-Anton with a postdoctoral position, and the help of the Asturias Research Programme for funding both a doctoral fellowship for Raquel Ochoa-Gonzalez and the project PC10-20.