Control of Trace Metal Emissions During Coal Combustion

Emissions of toxic trace metals in the form of metal fumes or submicron particulates from a coal-fired combustion source have received greater environmental and regulatory concern over the past years. Current practice of controlling these emissions is to collect them at the cold-end of the process by air-pollution control devices (APCDs) such as electrostatic precipitators and baghouses. However, trace metal fumes may not always be effectively collected by these devices because the formed fumes are extremely small. The proposed research is to explore the opportunities for improved control of toxic trace metal emissions, alternatively, at the hot-end of the coal combustion process, i.e., in the combustion chamber. The technology proposed is to prevent the metal fumes from forming during the process, which would effectively eliminate the metal emission problems. Specifically, the technology is to employ suitable sorbents to (1) reduce the amount of metal volatilization during combustion and (2) capture volatilized metal vapors. The objectives of the project are to demonstrate the technology and to characterize the metal capture process during coal combustion in a fluidized bed combustor. The project was started on July 1, 1994 and this is the thirteenth quarterly technical progress report. Specifically, the following progress has been made during this performance period from July 1, 1997 through September 30, 1997