Abstract:
Oxy-fuel combustion is a promising carbon capture technology. However, elemental mercury (Hg
0) present in oxy-fuel combustion flue gas poses significant safety risks due to its potential to cause embrittlement of aluminum-based CO
2 compression equipment and heat exchangers. The challenge of Hg
0 removal from oxy-fuel flue gas primarily stems from the lack of cost-effective, efficient sorbents with excellent resistance to SO
2 and H
2O. Previously, waste-derived sorbents were synthesized through the co-pyrolysis of waste tire and biomass under SO
2 atmosphere, which exhibited high performance for Hg
0 removal from traditional coal-fired flue gas. The behavior of Hg
0 removal over waste-derived sorbents from oxy-fuel combustion flue gas is further explored. The involved Hg
0 removal mechanisms and regeneration performance of waste-derived sorbents are also revealed. The results indicate that the sorbents perform better in Hg
0 removal under oxy-fuel conditions compared to air combustion. This is mainly because the presence of CO
2 promotes the generation of C=O and O—C=O functional groups on the sorbent surface. SO
2 promotes Hg
0 removal by reacting with surface sulfides to form functional groups (such as sulfur-containing functional groups). NO promotes Hg
0 removal by being oxidized into NO
2 on the sorbent surface, which further reacts with Hg
0 to form Hg(NO
3)
2. HCl contributes to the formation of C—Cl functional groups on the sorbent surface, increasing the active sites for Hg
0 removal. However, H
2O slightly inhibits the Hg
0 removal process due to competitive adsorption. After three regeneration cycles, the Hg
0 removal performance of sorbent surpasses its initial state whereas a decline occurs after the fourth cycle. This indicates that there are some limitations in the regeneration of sorbents, but it still exhibits satisfactory Hg
0 removal performance under suitable conditions.