Experimental study on elemental mercury removal by diperiodatonickelate (IV) solution

A novel method has been developed to remove elemental mercury from simulated flue gas by a diperiodatonickelate (IV) solution. The influencing factors, such as diperiodatonickelate (IV) concentration, reaction temperature, solution pH, the initial Hg0 concentration, SO2 concentration and NO concentration were investigated at a bubbling reactor. In the presence of SO2 and NO, removal efficiency of 86.2% for elemental mercury was obtained. Meanwhile, 56.2% of NO and 98% of SO2 were simultaneously removed, under the optimal experimental conditions, in which diperiodatonickelate (IV) concentration was 6 × 10−3 mol/L, reaction temperature was 50 ̊C, the initial Hg0 concentration was 20 μg/m3 and pH was 8.5. Moreover, based on the research results of the hydrolyzing products of IO4−, and the analysis of the removal products of Hg0, the reaction mechanism of Hg0 removal was proposed.