The Pyrolysis Efficiencies of Oxidized Mercury Using Different Thermal Conversion Materials in on-Line Total Gaseous Mercury Monitor

Abstract

The pyrolysis of oxidized mercury is one of key techniques for the conversion of species mercury from ionic form to elemental form. At present, thermal pyrolysis technique has been more and more used in on-line total gaseous mercury monitor for its high conversion efficiency and less time consuming maintenance. We investigate the pyrolysis efficiencies of oxidized mercury using SiC, nickel (Ni) and nichrome as thermal conversion materials in converter. The results reveal that compared with SiC material, the nickel (Ni) and nichrome can provide high pyrolysis efficiency. Particularly, the nichrome that contains 15% chromium (Cr), 75% Ni and 8% Fe can achieve 8.7% higher conversion efficiency than SiC at 800 °C. The results demonstrate that the nichrome that contains 15% chromium (Cr), 75% Ni and 8% Fe is an appropriate thermal converting material for the on-line total gaseous mercury monitor.