Removal of Elemental Mercury from Simulated Flue Gas by a Copper-Based ZSM-5 Molecular Sieve

Abstract

A series of Cu-ZSM-5 molecular sieve adsorbents were prepared by the impregnation method. The experimental results revealed that the mercury removal efficiency of the 2.5 wt% CuCl2-ZSM-5 can reach up to 99%. Furthermore, both the crystal type and pore size distribution of the ZSM-5 molecular sieve remain the same after the process of copper-based active materials impregnated modification, and its specific surface area decreases as the load increases. Importantly, the surface of ZSM-5 modified by CuCl2 equips many more Cu-O functional groups, which are beneficial to the catalytic oxidation of mercury and can even oxidize Hg0 to Hg2+. The adsorption process strictly follows the Mars–Maessen reaction mechanism.