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ABSTRACT
Under the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) determined that regulation of mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants is appropriate and necessary. To aid in this determination, preliminary estimates of the performance and cost of powdered activated carbon (PAC) injection-based mercury control technologies were developed. This paper presents these estimates and develops projections of costs for future applications.
Cost estimates were developed using PAC to achieve a minimum of 80% mercury removal at plants using electrostatic precipitators and a minimum of 90% removal at plants using fabric filters. These estimates ranged from 0.305 to 3.783 mills/kWh. However, the higher costs were associated with a minority of plants using hot-side electrostatic precipitators (HESPs). If these costs are excluded, the estimates range from 0.305 to 1.915 mills/kWh. Cost projections developed using a composite lime-PAC sorbent for mercury removal ranged from 0.183 to 2.270 mills/kWh, with the higher costs being associated with a minority of plants that used HESPs.