Mercury emissions from coal combustion: modeling and comparison of Hg capture in a fabric filter versus an electrostatic precipitator

Mercury emissions from coal combustion must be reduced, in response to new air quality regulations in the U.S. Although the most mature control technology is adsorption across a dust cake of powdered sorbent in a fabric filter (FF), most particulate control in the U.S. associated with coal combustion takes the form of electrostatic precipitation (ESP). Using recently developed models of mercury adsorption within an ESP and within a growing sorbent bed in a FF, parallel analyses of elemental mercury (Hg0) uptake have been conducted. The results show little difference between an ESP and a FF in absolute mercury removal for a low-capacity sorbent, with a high-capacity sorbent achieving better performance in the FF. Comparisons of fractional mercury uptake per-unit-pressure-drop provide a means for incorporating and comparing the impact of the much greater pressure drop of a FF as compared to an ESP. On a per-unit-pressure-drop basis, mercury uptake within an ESP exhibited better performance, particularly for the low-capacity sorbent and high mass loadings of both sorbents.