Emission Characteristics of Mercury in Zn Smelting Process

Stationary combustion sources such as coal-fired power plants, waste incinerators, industrial manufacturing, etc. are recognized as major sources of mercury emissions. Due to rapid economic growth, zinc production in Korea has increased significantly during the last 30 years. Total zinc production in Korea exceeded 739,000 tons in 2008, and Korea is currently the third largest zinc producing country in the world. Previous studies have revealed that zinc smelting has become one of the largest single sectors of total mercury emissions in the World. However, studies on this sector are very limited, and a large gap in the knowledge regarding emissions from this sector needs to be bridged. In this paper, Hg emission measurements were performed to develop emission factors from zinc smelting process. Stack sampling and analysis were carried out utilizing the Ontario Hydro method and US EPA method 101A. Preliminary data showed that concentrations in the flue gas ranged from 4.56 to with an average of , Hg(p) concentrations ranged from 0.03 to with an average of , and RGM concentrations ranged from 0.23 to with an average of . To date, emission factors of 7.5~8.0 g/ton for Europe, North America and Australia, and of 20 or 25 g/ton for Africa, Asia and South America are widely accepted by researchers. In this study, Hg emission factors were estimated using the data measured at the commercial facilities as emissions per ton of zinc product. Emission factors for mercury from zinc smelting pross ranged from 4.32 to 12.96 mg/ton with an average of 8.31 mg/ton. The emission factors that we obtained in this study are relatively low, considering Hg contents in the zinc ores and control technology in use. However, as these values are estimated by limited data of single measurement of each, the emission factor and total emission amount must be updated in future.