Commercialization of Novel Mercury Oxidation Catalysts for Mercury Emissions Control

新的汞和空气有毒物质标准（MATS）规则将从2016年起对几乎所有燃烧源（包括燃煤和燃油公用事业、工业、商业和机构发电厂）的90%以上的汞排放进行监管。 在烟气中存在的元素汞、氧化汞和颗粒结合汞中，元素汞（Hg（0））蒸气最难控制，但必须控制，以满足所有燃煤电厂严格的MATS规则。 拟议的项目之间的差距桥梁差距的基本机制的理解，多相催化汞（0）氧化和它的放大问题。这不仅将验证PI的多相Hg（0）氧化技术在一个更实际的实验室规模的设置，但也允许调查放大的催化反应从颗粒状的形状到结构化的形状。这项拟议的研究将提高工程能力，预测Hg（0）去除的基础上的物理和化学原理的基本理解。它将促进科学知识的发展，并扩大新提议的汞规则的汞控制备选方案。它将最终导致基于多相催化、吸附和吸收的各种环境修复和分离技术。该教育计划将为化学和环境工程教师，学生和环境催化，分离和空气质量/空气污染控制领域的专业人士提供共同利益。

The new Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS) rule should regulate more than 90% of mercury emissions virtually from all combustion sources including from coal- and oil-fired utility, industrial, commercial, and institutional power plants from 2016. Among elemental, oxidized, and particulate-bound mercury species present in flue gas, elemental mercury (Hg(0)) vapor is most difficult to control, but imperative to control in order to meet the stringent MATS rule from all coal-fired power plants. The proposed project bridges the gap between a fundamental mechanistic understanding of heterogeneous catalytic Hg(0) oxidation and its scale-up issues. It will not only validate the PI's heterogeneous Hg(0) oxidation technology in a more practical bench-scale setting but also allow for investigating the scale-up of the catalytic reaction from a granular shape to a structured shape.This proposed research will enhance the engineering capability to predict Hg(0) removal based on the fundamental understanding of physical and chemical principles. It will lead to advancing scientific knowledge and broadening mercury control options for the new proposed mercury rule. It will ultimately lead to various environmental remediation and separation technologies based on heterogeneous catalysis, adsorption, and absorption. The educational plan will provide co-benefits for chemical and environmental engineering faculty, students, and professionals in the areas of environmental catalysis, separation, and air quality/air pollution control.