Mercury oxidation and adsorption characteristics of potassium permanganate modified lignite semi-coke

The adsorption characteristics of virgin and potassium permanganate modified lignite semi-coke (SC) for gaseous Hg⁰ were investigated in an attempt to produce more effective and lower price adsorbents for the control of elemental mercury emission. Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) measurements, X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were used to analyze the surface physical and chemical properties of SC, Mn-SC and Mn-H-SC before and after mercury adsorption. The results indicated that potassium permanganate modification had significant influence on the properties of semi-coke, such as the specific surface area, pore structure and surface chemical functional groups. The mercury adsorption efficiency of modified semi-coke was lower than that of SC at low temperature, but much higher at high temperature. Amorphous Mn⁷⁺, Mn⁶⁺ and Mn⁴⁺ on the surface of Mn-SC and Mn-H-SC were the active sites for oxidation and adsorption of gaseous Hg⁰, which oxidized the elemental mercury into Hg²⁺ and captured it. Thermal treatment reduced the average oxidation degree of Mn^x+ on the surface of Mn-SC from 3.80 to 3.46. However, due to the formation of amorphous MnO_x, the surface oxidation active sites for gaseous Hg⁰ increased, which gave Mn-H-SC higher mercury adsorption efficiency than that of Mn-SC at high temperature.