The specific adsorption behaviors of activated carbons (ACs) treated with 30 wt% H3PO4 or NaOH were investigated in the removals of NO or NH3. The acid and base values were determined by Boehm's titration method. And, the surface properties of ACs were studied by FT-IR and XPS analyses. Also, N2/77K adsorption isotherm characteristics, including the specific surface area and micropore volume were studied by BET and t-plot methods, respectively. From the adsorption tests of NO and NH3, it was revealed in the case of acidic treatment on ACs that the NH3 removal was more effective due to the increase of acidic functional groups in carbon surfaces. Also, the NO removal was increased, in the case of basic treatment, due to the improvement of basic functional groups, in spite of significant decreases of BET's specific surface area and total pore volume. It was found that the adsorption capacity of ACs was not only determined by the textural characteristics but also correlated with the surface functional groups in the acid-base intermolecular interactions.
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.