Sequestration of supercritical CO2 by mercury oxide

Abstract

AbstractHgCO3·2HgO (mercury oxide carbonate), along with partly unreacted reactants, was obtained by exploring the behaviour of the Hg2Cl2/HgO binary system in supercritical CO2 (scCO2) at 200°C, 22000 kPa in the presence and absence of water, using a self-made laboratory-scale system. The reaction of pure HgO with scCO2 aimed at the synthesis of HgCO3 (mercury carbonate), also yielded the same product. Meanwhile, with a small amount of water present in the Hg2Cl2/HgO-scCO2 system, at 200°C, 22000 kPa, the mineral terlinguaite (Hg4O2Cl2) was obtained instead of mercury oxide carbonate. Repeating this reaction under the same conditions, but in the absence of CO2, again resulted in the synthesis of terlinguaite, leading to the assumption that the scCO2 had no influence on the synthesis of terlinguaite. This study reveals a new moisture-free laboratory method and conditions for the permanent fixation of CO2 by HgO. This method bears two benefits: 1) it can be introduced to reduce the Hg content in flue gas and fly ash emitted from coal-burning power plants and municipal waste incinerators; 2) it can contribute to CO2 mineralisation in montroydite (HgO) geological formations as mercury oxide carbonate.