Students at the University of Pittsburgh are hoping to change that statistic, and the school announced this week that the Department of Energy (DOE) is assisting in that goal.
According to a statement on behalf of the university, the DOE has awarded it a three-year $US400,000 grant for “Partitioning and Mechanism Studies for Mercury and Associated Trace Metals within Coal-Fired Processes”. The funding will assist a group led by environmental engineering professor Radisav Vidic in its research of chemical reactions and mercury transformation in flue gases at coal-fuelled power generation facilities.
In addition to its chemical explorations, the group will also develop and verify mathematical models that they hope will predict mercury emissions.
“If we can understand fundamentals of the catalytic reactions that are promoted by solid surfaces present in coal combustion systems, we will be able to describe key phenomena responsible for the fate of mercury in coal combustion systems,” said Vidic.
“Subsequently, we can develop more effective and efficient technologies for controlling mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants.”
The school’s grant from the DOE is part of the agency’s University Coal Research Program, an initiative supporting educational research into clean-coal technologies and innovations.
