Stable isotope composition of mercury forms in flue gases from a typical coal-fired power plant, Inner Mongolia, northern China

Abstract

Mercury forms emitted from coal combustion via air pollution control devices are speculated to carry different Hg isotope signatures. Yet, their Hg isotope composition is still not reported. Here, we present the first onsite Hg isotope data for gaseous elemental Hg (GEM) and gaseous oxidized Hg (GOM) of flue gases from a typical lignite-fired power plant (CFPP). Significant mass dependent fractionation (MDF) and insignificant mass independent fractionation (MIF) are observed between feed coal and coal combustion products. As compared to feed coal (δ202Hg=−2.04±0.25‰), bottom ash, GEM and GOM in flue gases before and after wet flue gas desulfurization system significantly enrich heavy Hg isotopes by 0.7–2.6‰ in δ202Hg, while fly ash, desulfurization gypsum and waste water show slight but insignificant enrichment of light Hg isotopes. GEM is significantly enriched heavy Hg isotopes compared to GOM and Hg in fly ash. Our observations verify the previous speculation on Hg isotope fractionation mechanism in CFPPs, and suggest a kinetically-controlled mass dependent Hg isotope fractionation during transformation of Hg forms in flue gases. Finally, our data are compared to Hg isotope compositions of atmospheric Hg pools, suggesting that coal combustion Hg emission is likely an important atmospheric Hg contributor.