PROCESS FOR RECOVERING MERCURY FROM A GAS CONTAINING MERCURY VAPOR

• US 3,849,267 A
• Filed: 03/05/1973
• Issued: 11/19/1974
• Est. Priority Date: 03/06/1972
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Casper J.N. Rekers, Hendrika Hilgen
• Original Assignee: Casper J.N. Rekers, Hendrika Hilgen
• Inventors: Hilgen, Hendrika, Rekers, Casper J. N.
• Primary Examiner(s): Stern, Edward
• Application Number:
  US05/338,193
• Time in Patent Office: 624 Days
• Field of Search: 423/491,241,99 75/112 204/94,99
• US Class Current: 205/527
• CPC Class Codes: C01G 13/04 Halides

Abstract

A process for recovering mercury from a mercury-containing gas which includes mixing chlorine with the gas, then passing the mixture through a gas-permeable bed of a non-porous solid material which has a large surface area in relation to the bed volume to collect necessary chloride thereon and thereafter recovering the mercury by either washing the bed with chlorine containing brine and passing the resulting mercury-containing brine to an electrolysis cell with a mercury cathode or dissolving the bed material in an aqueous process stream and passing the stream to an electrolysis cell with a mercury cathode.

Claims

1. A PROCESS FOR RECOVERING MERCURY FROM A MERCURYCONTAINING GAS COMPRISING MIXING THE GAS WITH CHLORINE AND SUBSEQUENTLY PASSING THE MIXTURE AT A TEMPERATURE UP TO 80*C THROUGH A GAS-PERMEABLE BED OF NON-POROUS SOLID MATERIAL PRESENTING A TOTAL EXTERNAL SURFACE AREA AMOUNTING TO AT LEAST 20 M2 PER M3 BED VOLUME WHICH COLLECTS THE MERCURY AS A MERCURY CHLORIDE.

2. The process according to claim 1 in which the bed at least partially consists of glass wool.

3. The process according to claim 1 in which the bed at least partially consists of preformed bodies of common salt.

4. The process according to claim 1, in which the material is so arranged in the bed as to present an increase in external surface area in the direction of the gas flow.

5. The process according to claim 1, including mixing the gas with chlorine immediately before or upon entering the bed.

6. The process according to claim 1, including washing the bed containing water-insoluble solid material after having become loaded with mercury chloride with a chlorine containing brine and passing the resulting mercury containing brine to an electrolysis cell with a mercury cathode.

7. The process according to claim 3, including dissolving the solid common salt content of the bed after having become loaded with mercury chloride in an aqueous process stream and passing the stream to an electrolysis cell with a mercury cathode.