Reducing Mercury Emissions

High levels of mercury can have a toxic effect on the human nervous system. To help reduce the amount of mercury emitted from power plants during coal combustion, UAB has received a three-year, $400,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to find the best, most cost-effective method for mercury removal from power plant emissions.

“It is difficult for utilities to plan equipment improvements and new construction without quantitative data with which to evaluate alternative designs,” says UAB materials engineering professor Peter Walsh, Ph.D., project co-investigator. “In this project, we will develop a mechanism that will provide the information with which engineers can determine the most cost effective approaches to multi-pollutant control in existing and new plants.”