Research on ash-free sampling device and its application in the mercury testing of coal-fired flue gas

In this paper, an ash-free sampling device of coal-fired flue gas has been developed, including the U-shaped sampling probe, electric heating element and thermostat, sampling ports, porous ceramic filter, which can not only be used for low-ash flue gas sampling and measurement, but also be able to achieve high-ash flue gas measurement. The developed ash-free sampling device can work at a wide temperature range from 120 ∼ 650°C. It is adopted to conduct the field-testing at a coal-fired power station to measure mercury in the coal-fired derived flue gas, and the attained date are satisfactory and can reflect the actual power plant flue gas emissions level and speciation of mercury. The developed ash-free sampling device is with simple configuration and efficient function, providing an effective method and tool for mercury and other pollution emission measurement and their control.