Efficient Treatment of Toxic Metal Contaminated Wet Scrubber Wastewater from Coal-Fired Power Plants

Coal-fired electricity generating plants use flue-gas emission control technologies to contain green house gases and other materials that pollute the environment. Although these control methods bring the plant into compliance with emissions regulations, they also have been shown to increase the capture of toxic mercury, which accumulates in the installation¿s wastewater and creates a serious environmental hazard that cannot easily be mitigated with existing wastewater treatment methods. This project will investigate the use of a new nanoporous inorganic-organic hybrid material for the selective removal of mercury from wastewater, where mercury is removed by ion-exchange. In Phase I laboratory tests, wastewater samples collected from coal-fired power plants were used to evaluate the material¿s performance. The tests indicated that the material has favorable characteristics for meeting new EPA restrictions on mercury discharge levels in wastewater. The new material substantially exceeded the performance of the most advanced commercial material for mercury removal. Phase II will involve the design and fabrication of the treatment system for pilotscale demonstration. Engineering feasibility tests will be conducted at an operating coal-fired power plant. Commercial Applications and Other Benefits as described by the awardee: The wastewater treatment technology should provide enormous benefits over the existing technologies for mercury removal from power plant wastewater. The technology also should be useful for removing mercury from industrial, mining, and municipal wastewater, crude oil, liquid condensate, nuclear waste, dental wastewater, etc.