Field Tests of Palladium Sorbents for High Temperature Capture of Mercury, Arsenic, Selenium From Syngas

In gasification for power generation, the removal of mercury and other trace elements such as arsenic, selenium and phosphorus by sorbents at elevated temperatures preserves the high thermal efficiency of the integrated gasification combined cycle system.  Most commercial sorbents display poor capacity for elemental mercury at elevated temperatures.

Palladium is an attractive sorbent candidate for the removal of mercury and the trace elements from syngas at elevated temperatures.  The National Carbon Capture Center at the Power Systems Development Facility (PSDF) in Wilsonville, Alabama, is a large-scale flexible test facility established to develop and demonstrate a wide range of advanced power generation technologies that are critical to developing highly efficient power plants that capture carbon dioxide.  The palladium-based sorbents have been tested for extended periods of time in slipstreams of syngas at the NCCC.  These results will be described, and possible future testing will be discussed.