Effects of pH on Hg0 Re-Emission in WFGD
Gaseous oxidized mercury (Hg2+) in the flue gas is soluble in water and can be captured effectively by Wet flue gas desulfurization (WFGD) system. But in some extent Hg0re-emission happens due to the reduction of absorbed Hg2+, and the pH of slurry is an important factor affecting Hg0re-emission. In this study, the theoretical formulas of slurry pH were derived through the conventional solution theory and then were used to evaluate the factors determining the pH of slurry. A series of laboratory experiments were carried out under N2,CO2and O2/N2atmosphere to measure the Hg0re-emission tendency at different pH values. The results show that the higher the pH, the less Hg2+reduced by S(IV), resulting in the decrease of Hg0re-emission. Under N2atmosphere, the Hg0re-emission was mild at pH>4 while it was dramatic at pH<4. Under O2/N2atmosphere, the addition of O2extended the time span of Hg0re-emission at low pH and increased Hg0re-emission unexpectedly in the latter part of the experiments at high pH. CO2atmosphere almost did not affect Hg0re-emission because of its little effect on the slurry pH.