Optimization of high temperature sulfur impregnation on activated carbon for permanent sequestration of elemental mercury vapors

Following previous success with the use of activated carbon impregnated with sulfur at elevated temperatures for elemental mercury control, possible improvements in the impregnation procedure were evaluated in this study. Adsorbents prepared by thoroughly mixing sulfur and activated carbon in the furnace at the initial sulfur-to-carbon ratio (SCR) ranging from 4:1 to 1:2 showed similar adsorptive behavior in a fixed-bed system. Maintaining a stagnant inert atmosphere during the impregnation process improves sulfur deposition resulting in the enhanced dynamic capacity of the adsorbent when compared to other sulfur impregnated carbons. The fate of spent adsorbents was assessed using a toxicity characteristics leaching procedure (TCLP). Although mercury concentration in all leachates was below the TCLP limit (0.2 mg/L), virgin activated carbon lost a significant fraction of the adsorbed elemental mercury during storage, while no loss was observed for sulfur-impregnated carbons. This finding suggests that virgin activated carbon may not be appropriate adsorbent for permanent sequestration of anthropogenic elemental mercury emissions.