Sample Conditioning System for Real-Time Mercury Analysis

Mercury from combustion sources is a major concern to the nation's air quality. In December 2000, EPA announced that it would regulate mercury emissions from coal-fired boilers under Title III of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990. EPA plans to issue final regulations by December 2004, and is expected to require compliance by December 2007. The Department of Energy estimates that control of mercury emissions from coal-fired utility boilers will cost billions of dollars annually. Prior to installing a mercury control system, improved measurements of mercury emissions would allow EPA and the utility to make better decisions concerning control options. Real-time continuous monitoring of mercury would provide options for advanced process control feedback and for monitoring the performance of the control system, thus lowering the cost of mercury controls. Although a few mercury analyzers show promise for measuring elemental mercury, a reliable sampling system that allows these analyzers to measure total (particulate, vapor-phase) and speciated mercury continuously and in real time in the flue gas of coal-fired boilers is needed. Apogee is defining a new state-of-the-art in mercury measurement by developing a novel sample conditioning system (SCS) for the continuous real-time monitoring of mercury in flue gas from coal-fired boilers.