Johnson Matthey Licenses DOE Patent to Remove Mercury and Arsenic from New IGCC Coal Power Plants

MALVERN, PA– Johnson Matthey announced today that it has been granted an exclusive license by the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) for its high temperature sorbent technology and patent to remove mercury, arsenic and potentially selenium and cadmium from syngas produced by coal gasification.  This license was a natural extension of a two-year Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) between Johnson Matthey and NETL to evaluate and optimize palladium (Pd) sorbent material properties and performance. Unlike conventional sorbents such as activated carbon, which operate at ambient temperature, high temperature Pd sorbents remove mercury and arsenic at temperatures above 500°F, resulting in a major improvement in overall energy efficiency of the power combustion process. 

Meeting the Requirement for Cleaner Air
Mercury is a toxic, persistent pollutant that accumulates in the food chain. Mercury in the air is a global problem.  Concentrations of mercury in the air are usually low.  However, atmospheric mercury falls to Earth through rain, snow and dry deposition and enters lakes, rivers and estuaries.  Once there it can transform into methylmercury, which can build up in fish tissue.  People are exposed to methylmercury primarily by eating contaminated fish.  Because the developing fetus is the most sensitive to the toxic effects of methylmercury, women of childbearing age are regarded as the population of greatest concern.  Children who are exposed to methylmercury before birth may be at increased risk of poor performance on neurobehavioral tasks.

 The need for mercury removal coal-derived exhaust gas streams arises from the EPA’s Clean Air Mercury Rule.  While the rule is a good start, many states see it as not stringent enough and have begun the process of implementing their own rules for mercury control.  With these regulations in place, the need exists for a low-cost mercury removal technique that can be applied to new clean coal processes, such as Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC).  In IGCC, high temperature removal of mercury from the synthetic gas results in a gain in energy efficiency as contrasted with low temperature removal.

About Johnson Matthey Stationary Source Emissions Control Johnson Matthey SSEC is well known for its total systems approach to solving the customer’s emissions problem.  It is dedicated to the research, development and application of catalyst technology to improve quality of life by reducing air pollution.  JM SSEC designs and supplies catalysts and engineers catalytic systems to control emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx), carbon monoxide (CO), hydrocarbons (HC), volatile organic compounds (VOC), hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) and particulate matter (PM).