Abstract An applicable way of mineral sulfide based remediators such as copper sulfide (CuS) for effective abatement of elemental mercury (Hg0) from coal-fired flue gas is to inject them prior to electrostatic precipitators (ESPs), in which light irradiation widely exists because of the corona discharge. A systematical investigation of Hg0 removal by CuS sorbent under light irradiation was conducted for the first time. The results show that light irradiation significantly inhibited the Hg0 removal efficiency of the CuS sorbent. The normalized Hg0 concentration at the reactor outlet even quickly increased from 0 to 0.45 once a lamp was turned on. Light irradiation excited a transfer of electrons on the Cu-terminated sites from inner Cu 3d orbit to outer Cu 4s orbit, and hence inhibited the formation of copper amalgam, which was supposed to be a key step in Hg0 immobilization by the CuS sorbent. Moreover, light irradiation accelerated the decomposition of copper amalgam to Hg0 which re-emitted to the gas flow. With these novel insights into the role of light irradiation concerning Hg0 removal over mineral sulfides, this work can provide guidance for selecting and adopting proper mineral sulfides in real-world coal combustion conditions to replace traditional activated carbons.

中文翻译：

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光照射抑制矿物硫化物吸附剂对汞的吸附

摘要 硫化铜 (CuS) 等矿物硫化物修复剂有效去除燃煤烟气中元素汞 (Hg0) 的一种适用方式是在静电除尘器 (ESP) 之前注入它们，因为电除尘器 (ESP) 中广泛存在光照射的电晕放电。首次对光照射下 CuS 吸附剂去除 Hg0 进行了系统研究。结果表明，光照射显着抑制了 CuS 吸附剂的 Hg0 去除效率。一旦打开灯，反应器出口处的标准化 Hg0 浓度甚至会迅速从 0 增加到 0.45。光照射激发了 Cu 终止位点上的电子从内部 Cu 3d 轨道转移到外部 Cu 4s 轨道，从而抑制了铜汞齐的形成，这应该是 CuS 吸附剂固定 Hg0 的关键步骤。此外，光照射加速了铜汞齐分解成 Hg0，然后重新排放到气流中。有了这些关于光照射在矿物硫化物上去除 Hg0 的作用的新见解，这项工作可以为在现实世界的煤炭燃烧条件下选择和采用合适的矿物硫化物替代传统活性炭提供指导。