Spouted Bed Reactor Designs for Thermal Desorption of Mercury Compounds

Thermal desorption using spouted bed reactor has demonstrated a reduction of 65% Mercury, 28% Sulfur, 43% Arsenic, and 45% Lead content from bituminous coal. Further development is needed to improve the commercialization of the developed technology: (1) improve thermal desorption capability to high-moisture lignite and anthracite, (2) expand thermal desorption to soil remediation at landfill, and (3) utilize modular spouted bed system that fit on a standard semi-truck. The unique spouted bed reactor, developed by Advanced Cooling Technologies, Inc. (ACT) is the key innovation that increased performance of thermal desorption of mercury and other contaminants from coal. In addition, dewatering using supercritical CO2 will be applied to assist high-moisture lignite and anthracite. For soil remediation, ACT will collaborate with Lehigh University and commercial partners, to investigate supercritical CO2 dewatering and thermal desorption using spouted bed to remove contaminants from soil at one of EPA’s Superfund sites. In Phase II, ACT designed and fabricated a unique spouted bed reactor to improve particle mixing and heat transfer within the coal bed. The thermal desorption process using ACT’s spouted bed design demonstrated a reduction of 65% Mercury, 28% Sulfur, 43% Arsenic, and 45% Lead content in bituminous coal, which doubled the removal efficiency compared to standard conical spouted bed. Thermal desorption of Lignite and Anthracite was not as effective due to excessive moisture content and irregular shape. ACT in collaboration with Lehigh University and industrial partners, will improve its spouted bed reactor design to remove contaminants from all types of coal, including high-moisture Lignite and Anthracite. ACT will also investigate thermal desorption of contaminated soil obtained from landfill. Subsequently, ACT will fabricate a modular spouted bed system to fit on a standard semi-truck to increase the system mobility and to maintain low power requirement. Lastly, ACT will perform detailed techno-economic analysis to demonstrate cost and profitability of the developed cleaning technology for coal producers and coal-fired power plants, as well as Superfund sites. The proposed dewatering and cleaning method provides opportunities for coal-fired power plants to utilize higher Mercury and Sulfur content coal and reduce the cost of current post-combustion Mercury capture systems. ACT’s unique reactor design also improves performance of other applications that utilize spouted bed, including: soil remediation.