Impact of Supplemental Firing of Tire-Derived Fuel (TDF) on Mercury Species and Mercury Capture with the Advanced Hybrid Filter in a Western Subbituminous Coal Flue Gas

Pilot-scale experimental studies were carried out to evaluate the impacts of cofiring tire-derived fuel and a western subbituminous coal on mercury species in flue gas. Mercury samples were collected at the inlet and outlet of the Advanced Hybrid filter to determine mercury concentrations in the flue gas with and without TDF cofiring, respectively. Cofiring of TDF with a subbituminous coal had a significant effect on mercury speciation in the flue gas. With 100% coal firing, there was only 16.8% oxidized mercury in the flue gas compared to 47.7% when 5% TDF (mass basis) was fired and 84.8% when 10% TDF was cofired. The significantly enhanced mercury oxidation may be the result of additional homogeneous gas reactions between Hg0 and the reactive chlorine generated in the TDF-cofiring flue gas and the in situ improved reactivity of unburned carbon in ash by the reactive chlorine species. Although the cofiring of TDF demonstrated limited improvement on mercury-emission control with the Advanced Hybrid filter, it proved to be a very cost-effective mercury control approach for power plants equipped with wet or dry flue gas desulfurization (FGD) systems because of the enhanced mercury oxidation.