Transport and fate of mercury under different hydrologic regimes in polluted stream in mining area

Seepage from Hg mine wastes and calcines contains high concentrations of mercury (Hg). Hg pollution is a major environmental problem in areas with abandoned mercury mines and retorting units. This study evaluates factors, especially the hydrological and sedimentary variables, governing temporal and spatial variation in levels and state of mercury in streams impacted by Hg contaminated runo . Samples were taken during di erent flow regimes in theWanshan Hg mining area in Guizhou Province, China. In its headwaters the sampled streams/rivers pass by several mine wastes and calcines with high concentration of Hg. Seepage causes serious Hg contamination to the downstream area. Concentrations of Hg in water samples showed significant seasonal variations. Periods of higher flow showed high concentrations of total Hg (THg) in water due to more particles being re-suspended and transported. The concentrations of major anions (e.g., Cl??, F??, NO3?? and SO4 2??) were lower during higher flow due to dilution. Due to both sedimentation of particles and dilution from tributaries the concentration of THg decreased from 2100 ng/L to background levels (< 50 ng/L) within 10 km distance downstream. Sedimentation is the main reason for the fast decrease of the concentration, it accounts for 69% and 60% for higher flow and lower flow regimes respectively in the upper part of the stream. Speciation calculation of the dissolved Hg fraction (DHg) (using Visual MINTEQ) showed that Hg(OH)2 associated with dissolved organic matter is the main form of Hg in dissolved phase in surface waters in Wanshan (over 95%).     

Silver impregnated carbon for adsorption and desorption of elemental mercury vapors

The Hg0 vapor adsorption experimental results on a novel sorbent obtained by impregnating a commercially available activated carbon (Darco G60 from BDH) with silver nitrate were reported. The study was performed by using a fundamental approach, in an apparatus at laboratory scale in which a synthetic flue gas, formed by Hg0 vapors in a nitrogen gas stream, at a given temperature and mercury concentration, was flowed through a fixed bed of adsorbent material. Breakthrough curves and adsorption isotherms were obtained for bed temperatures of 90, 120 and 150°C and for Hg0 concentrations in the gas varying in the range of 0.8–5.0 mg/m3. The experimental gas-solid equilibrium data were used to evaluate the Langmuir parameters and the heat of adsorption. The experimental results showed that silver impregnated carbon was very effective to capture elemental mercury and the amount of mercury adsorbed by the carbon decreased as the bed temperature increased. In addition, to evaluate the possibility of adsorbent recovery, desorption was also studied. Desorption runs showed that both the adsorbing material and the mercury could be easily recovered, since at the end of desorption the residue on solid was almost negligible. The material balance on mercury and the constitutive equations of the adsorption phenomenon were integrated, leading to the evaluation of only one kinetic parameter which fits well both the experimentally determined breakthrough and desorption curves.     

水中汞形态分析研究进展

水环境中的汞毒性很大,不同形态的汞毒性不同,测定汞总量不能揭示汞的毒性,需要进行汞形态分析的研究。文章介绍了近年来水环境中汞形态分析的前处理技术及检测进展。     

Pd/activated carbon sorbents for mid-temperature capture of mercury from coal-derived fuel gas

Higher concentrations of Hg can be emitted from coal pyrolysis or gasification than from coal combustion, especially elemental Hg. Highly efficient Hg removal technology from coal-derived fuel gas is thus of great importance. Based on the very excellent Hg removal ability of Pd and the high adsorption abilities of activated carbon（AC） for H2 S and Hg, a series of Pd/AC sorbents was prepared by using pore volume impregnation, and their performance in capturing Hg and H2 S from coal-derived fuel gas was investigated using a laboratory-scale fixed-bed reactor. The effects of loading amount, reaction temperature and reaction atmosphere on Hg removal from coal-derived fuel gas were studied. The sorbents were characterized by N2 adsorption, X-ray diffraction（XRD） and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy（XPS）. The results indicated that the efficiency of Hg removal increased with the increasing of Pd loading amount, but the effective utilization rate of the active component Pd decreased significantly at the same time. High temperature had a negative influence on the Hg removal. The efficiency of Hg removal in the N2-H2S-H2-CO-Hg atmosphere（simulated coal gas） was higher than that in N2-H2S-Hg and N2-Hg atmospheres, which showed that H2 and CO, with their reducing capacity, could benefit promote the removal of Hg. The XPS results suggested that there were two different ways of capturing Hg over sorbents in N2-H2S-Hg and N2-Hg atmospheres.     

Potential bioremediation of mercury-contaminated substrate using filamentous fungi isolated from forest soil

The use of filamentous fungi in bioremediation of heavy metal contamination has been developed recently. This research aims to observe the capability of filamentous fungi isolated from forest soil for bioremediation of mercury contamination in a substrate. Six fungal strains were selected based on their capability to grow in 25 mg/L Hg2+-contaminated potato dextrose agar plates. Fungal strain KRP1 showed the highest ratio of growth diameter, 0.831, thus was chosen for further observation.Identification based on colony and cell morphology carried out by 18S rRNA analysis gave a 98%match to Aspergillus flavus strain KRP1. The fungal characteristics in mercury(Ⅱ) contamination such as range of optimum pH, optimum temperature and tolerance level were 5.5–7 and 25–35℃ and 100 mg/L respectively. The concentration of mercury in the media affected fungal growth during lag phases. The capability of the fungal strain to remove the mercury(Ⅱ) contaminant was evaluated in 100 mL sterile 10 mg/L Hg2+-contaminated potato dextrose broth media in 250 mL Erlenmeyer flasks inoculated with 108spore/mL fungal spore suspension and incubation at 30℃ for 7 days. The mercury(Ⅱ) utilization was observed for flasks shaken in a 130 r/min orbital shaker(shaken) and nonshaken flasks(static) treatments. Flasks containing contaminated media with no fungal spores were also provided as control. All treatments were done in triplicate. The strain was able to remove 97.50%and 98.73% mercury from shaken and static systems respectively. A. flavus strain KRP1 seems to have potential use in bioremediation of aqueous substrates containing mercury(Ⅱ) through a biosorption mechanism.     

茅尾海沉积物重金属空间分布特征与生态风险

于2010年1月在茅尾海采集了7个沉积物样品,分析了不同深度沉积物的基本理化性质及w(As)、w(Cd)、w(Cu)、w(Fe)、w(Hg)、w(Mn)、w(Ni)、w(Pb)和w(Zn),并采用潜在生态危害指数法进行了潜在生态风险分析.结果表明:这些元素的质量分数空间分布差异显著,总体上呈湾内大于湾外,其中w(Cd)和w(Hg)平均值分别为1.1、0.3 mg/kg,污染最为严重并有加重的趋势;Cd污染可能与周边农田磷肥使用及磷矿开采有关,而Hg污染可能主要是大量使用化石燃料所致.重金属(除As外)质量分数与w(OM)、w(Fe)和w(TN)密切相关,其中w(Cd)与w(TP)密切相关,说明生物和化学过程都显著影响这些元素的空间分布.w(Cu)、w(Hg)、w(Ni)、w(Pb)和w(Zn)之间呈极显著正相关(P0.01),说明这几种重金属可能具有同源性;而沉积物中w(Cd)与w(Zn)、w(Pb)、w(Ni)和w(Cu)均呈显著负相关(P0.05),暗示Cd的来源及生物地球化学过程与其他元素不同.该海域重金属潜在生态危害指数依次为CdHgPbZnCuAs,其中Cd与Hg属于中等生态危害;靠近茅岭江汇入区的采样点重金属潜在生态危害指数较高,属于中等生态危害,其余采样点的综合污染也已接近中等生态危害水平.     

汞污染农田土壤低温热解处理性能研究

选取贵州清镇地区汞污染农田土壤作为低温热解修复试验对象,研究处理温度、处理时间以及土壤含水率对低温热解法去除土壤汞效率的影响。同时采用连续浸提法对土样中7种形态的汞进行提取,分析热解升温过程中各形态汞的变化状况。结果表明:(1)处理温度越高,汞去除效率越大。当温度为350℃时,去除率达到90%以上。(2)处理时间越长,汞的去除率越高。处理持续时间为90min时,去除率达到90%。(3)土壤含水率越高,汞去除率越低。当风干时间10 d,土壤含水率13.8%时为处理土壤最佳条件。(4)7种形态的汞随温度升高均下降显著,当温度达到350℃时,处理后土样中水溶态和交换态已完全去除,其他形态的去除率也均达到90%以上,土样中最终以残渣态汞为主,环境风险小。     

SCR催化剂对汞的催化氧化研究进展

文章综述了目前国内外选择性催化还原(SCR)催化剂催化氧化燃煤烟气中汞的研究现状。介绍了钒基、铜基、铁基、锰基、铈基以及贵金属SCR催化剂对汞的催化氧化性能;分别分析了烟气温度、烟气组分(Cl2、HCl、SO2、NH3等)、空速等因素对各催化剂汞氧化性能的影响;最后运用文献对比方法综合概括了燃煤烟气条件对汞氧化的影响,并结合我国燃煤电厂现状,对SCR催化脱汞技术的发展方向提出建议:利用SCR催化剂实现燃煤烟气中汞的氧化,结合现有污染物控制设备实现汞的脱除,是一种经济、高效的燃煤烟气脱汞技术;当前应深入研究SCR催化剂对汞的催化氧化机理,开发能够实现NOx与汞协同控制的,稳定、高效、普适性强的低温SCR催化剂。     

基于实测的燃煤电厂汞迁移转化规律研究分析

为了研究某典型300 MW燃煤电厂汞迁移转化规律,对入炉煤、炉渣、石灰石、脱硫工艺水、石膏、脱硫废水、灰中的汞进行了取样测试。并采用EPA30B和安大略法实测了不同位置烟气中汞的形态分布情况。通过系统的汞质量平衡核算,得出各样品中汞所占的比例,在此基础上分析得到汞的迁移转化规律。结果表明,汞在煤渣中呈耗散状态,飞灰则具有一定富集汞的能力。袋式除尘器灰(0.016)的富集因子略高于电除尘器灰(0.094)的富集因子,可以看出袋式除尘器捕集颗粒汞的能力更强一些。烟囱排放的烟气是煤中汞的主要迁移方向,烟气经湿法脱硫系统后减少的汞主要富集在脱硫废水中,可以看出由湿法脱硫系统去除的汞大部分是可溶于水的二价汞。     

我国燃煤电厂汞污染防治现状及建议

目前,我国汞污染危机日趋严峻。以煤炭为主要能源的电厂是汞污染的主要来源之一。文章对我国燃煤汞排放现状、汞污染防治发展现状以及汞污染防治技术等进行了总结,并结合国外发达国家汞污染防治的技术手段与经验,提出我国燃煤电厂汞污染防治的不足和建议,为汞污染防治技术的研究与发展提供依据。