Mercury emissions from industrial sources in China

Abstract

In this chapter, we reviewed mercury emissions from industrial sources in China. The industrial sources included fuel oil for stationary sources; gasoline; diesel and kerosene; biofuel combustion; Grassland/ savannah burning; waste and residue burning; cement production; iron and steel production; caustic soda production; non-ferrous metal smelting (Zn, Pb, Cu, and Au); mercury mining; and battery and fluorescent lamp production. Mercury emission factors from most source categories were obtained according to measurement data from Europe and North America. The mercury emission factor for zinc smelting, which was believed to be the largest industrial source, was adopted from the data of recent studies in China. We used the information published in the literature to estimate the emission of different mercury species. The total mercury emission from industrial sources in China was 253.07 Mg in 1999. Non-ferrous metal smelting (including zinc, lead, copper and gold smelting) is the largest industrial mercury emission source in China and the total mercury emissions reached 167.8 Mg. The total mercury emissions from industrial sources in China in 1995 was 296.4 Mg, increasing to 360.5 Mg in 2003, at an average annual growth rate of 2.90%. Due to lack of field measurement data to quantify mercury emission factors for most of industrial sources, a large uncertainty is associated with the current emission inventory. A number of studies need to be undertaken to reduce the uncertainties. Surveys are needed to evaluate mercury contents in raw materials of different industrial categories. Mercury balance studies are necessary for representative plants of different industrial sources. The speciation of mercury emissions from different industrial sources are also urgently needed in order to better understand the atmospheric fate of mercury emitted from these sources.