In the present research, we prepared the activated carbon (AC) sorbents to remove gas-phase mercury. The mercury adsorption of virgin AC, chemically treated AC and fly ash was performed. Sulfur impregnated and sulfuric acid impregnated ACs were used as the chemically treated ACs. A simulated flue gas was made of SOx, NOx and mercury vapor in nitrogen balance. A reduced mercury adsorption capacity was obtained with the simulated gas as compared with that containing only mercury vapor in nitrogen. With the simulated gas, the sulfuric acid treated AC showed the highest performance, but it might have the problem of corrosion due to the emission of sulfuric acid. It was also found that the high sulfur impregnated AC also released a portion of sulfur at 140℃. Thus, it was concluded that the low sulfur impregnated AC was suitable for the treatment of flue gas in terms of stability and efficiency.

Mercury has been identified as a potential health and environmental hazardous material. Activated carbon adsorption offers promising potential for the control of mercury emissions, and sulfur impregnated (sulfurized) activated carbons has been shown to be an effective sorbent for the removal of vapor phase Hg˚ from sources. In this work, vapor phase mercury adsorption by sulfur impregnated activated carbons were investigated. Sulfur impregnated activated carbons were made by variation of impregnation temperature, and the comparison of adsorption characteristics with commercial virgin and sulfurized carbons were made. Factors affecting the adsorption capacity of virgin and sulfurized activated carbons such as pore characteristics, functional groups and sulfur impregnation conditions were discussed. It was found that the sulfur allotropes plays a critical role in adsorption of mercury vapor by sulfurized activated carbons.