SBIR Phase II: Improved Methods to Manufacture Brominated-Carbon Adsorbents for Power-Plant Mercury-Emission Control

This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project seeks to further develop an advanced manufacturing method to both lower the cost and increase the performance of brominated carbon sorbents for power plant mercury emission control. Fine brominated carbon, a newly-commercial material, has been demonstrating a superior affinity in full-scale sorbent-injection trials for scavenging toxic mercury from power plant flue gases. In the Phase I project various production parameters were experimentally examined and the feasibility of an improved manufacturing process was preliminarily established. The Phase II project will concentrate on further developing and testing the innovative manufacturing technique. Coal-fired power-plant mercury emissions are increasingly recognized as injurious to the environment and, ultimately, to human health. A leading retrofit technology for this application is the injection of a new material, brominated carbon, ahead of existing plant particulate controls. Consequently, successful efforts to lower the production cost and to increase the performance of these new materials will have high economic returns, potentially saving the nation tens or hundreds of millions of dollars each year.