Adsorption of aqueous Hg and inhibition of Hg re-emission from actual seawater flue gas desulfurization wastewater by using sulfurized activated carbon and NaClO.

The potential impacts of seawater flue gas desulfurization (SFGD) process used in coal-fired power plants have been greatly concerned because the wastewater containing Hg is directly discharged into the ocean environment without proper treatment. Furthermore, the re-emission of Hg as Hg to the atmosphere from SFGD wastewater caused by the reduction of aqueous Hg has also been observed. This study investigated the dependence of Hg adsorption behavior for sulfurized activated carbon (SAC) in actual SFGD wastewater on various influencing factors, including initial Hg concentration, solution pH, contact time, temperature, and the addition of oxidant (sodium hypochlorite, NaClO). SAC exhibited greater Hg adsorption than raw activated carbon at an initial Hg concentration of more than 4,723 ng L. The Hg removal efficiency of SAC was slightly larger at pH 7.0 and 8.0 than that at pH within 2.0-6.0. Hg adsorption on SAC was well correlated with the linear adsorption model. Kinetic analysis results indicate that pseudo-second-order adsorption may serve as the rate-limiting reaction of Hg adsorption on SAC. Thermodynamic analyses confirmed the endothermic and spontaneous adsorption behavior of Hg on SAC in the seawater environment. Notably, the addition of NaClO significantly reduced the Hg removal efficiency when SAC was used as the adsorbent. Nevertheless, NaClO addition also inhibited the reduction reaction of Hg to Hg by forming strong HgCl complexes, which decreased the risk of Hg reemitted into the atmosphere via a SFGD system.