Mercury and its compounds are very dangerous to environmental and human health. Methods to contain and/or limit its emission through the filters, gas cleaning systems, and alternative processes for purification of industrial residues are necessary. This study focused on mercury removal from diatomite sorbent samples–used as a filter in chemical industries–using an oxygen low-pressure hollow cathode discharge (HCD). The effects of the exposure time and temperature were investigated. Thermal desorption (at 500 and 650 °C) and plasma oxidation were performed at low pressures (between 36 and 80 Pa). The results show a considerable acceleration of the diatomite decontamination to a temperature of 650 °C, bringing the concentration of mercury below 100 µg/kg after 10 min and 39 µg/kg after 110 min of HCD exposure time. A comparative analysis of the virgin diatomite characteristics used in the filter press and after treatment show the possibility of recycling this material. Additionally, the mercury extracted by condensation in the vacuum line (by using a dry ice trap) can be purified for reuse and returned to the industrial process.

汞及其化合物对环境和人类健康非常危险。通过过滤器、气体清洁系统和工业残留物净化的替代过程来控制和/或限制其排放的方法是必要的。这项研究的重点是使用氧气低压空心阴极放电 (HCD) 从硅藻土吸附剂样品（在化学工业中用作过滤器）中去除汞。研究了暴露时间和温度的影响。热解吸（在 500 和 650 °C 下）和等离子体氧化在低压（36 和 80 Pa 之间）下进行。结果显示硅藻土净化显着加速到 650 °C 的温度，使汞浓度在 10 分钟后低于 100 µg/kg，在 HCD 暴露时间 110 分钟后使汞浓度低于 39 µg/kg。对压滤机和后处理中使用的原生硅藻土特性的比较分析显示了回收这种材料的可能性。此外，在真空管线中通过冷凝（通过使用干冰阱）提取的汞可以纯化以供重新使用并返回到工业过程中。