SBIR Phase I: Nanostructured Sorbent for Hg Removal from Scrubber Water to Below 10 ppt

这个小型企业创新研究第一阶段项目专注于评估和优化一种有前景的吸附剂-二氧化硅-二氧化钛复合材料(STC)，用于将燃煤电厂洗涤器水中的汞去除到10ppt以下。燃煤发电厂是汞的主要排放者，主要排放气体和液体.目前还没有商业技术将洗涤器水中的汞去除到未来法规预期的水平(即1至10ppt)。Sol-Gel Solutions，LLC(Sol-Gel)在评估STC用于去除燃煤电厂混合废水中的汞时，获得了低于1.3ppt的汞浓度。这些水平将符合五大湖倡议，这是一项将于2010年在美国部分地区执行的严格标准。拟议项目的目标是优化从几个燃煤电厂的洗涤器水中去除汞的技术，最终目标是设计一个商业系统。预计STC将有效地将汞去除到10ppt以下，并有可能被回收和再利用。这项研究的更广泛影响是保护人类和野生动物免受汞的影响。在人类中，这种暴露可能会损害神经发育，特别是在胎儿和儿童早期。拟议工作的一个关键要素将是通过有针对性的“网络研讨会”和时事通讯，向高中和社区大学生等传播拟议工作和相关基础科学的知识，促进人们对科学和工程的兴趣。

This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project focuses on theevaluation and optimization of a promising sorbent, Silica-Titania Composites(STC), for mercury removal from coal-fired power plant scrubber water tobelow 10 ppt. Coal-fired power plants are a predominant mercury emitter ingases and liquids. There are no commercial technologies for mercury removalfrom scrubber water to levels anticipated under future regulations (i.e., 1 to10 ppt). Sol-gel Solutions, LLC (Sol-gel) has obtained mercury concentrationsbelow 1.3 ppt when evaluating the STC for mercury removal from a mixedwastewater from a coal-fired power plant. These levels would comply with theGreat Lakes Initiative, a strict criterion that will be enforced in parts ofthe U.S. in 2010. The objective for the proposed project is to optimize thetechnology for mercury removal from scrubber water from several coal-firedpower plants, with the ultimate goal of designing a commercial system. It isexpected that the STC will effectively remove mercury to below 10 ppt, withthe potential of being recovered and reused.The broader impacts of this research are the protection of humans andwildlife from exposure to mercury. In humans, this exposure may impairneurological development, particularly in fetuses and during early childhood.A key element of the proposed work will be the promotion of interest inscience and engineering via dissemination of the learnings from the proposedwork and related fundamental science to high school and community collegestudents, among others, via a targeted "webinar" and newsletter.