Insight into elemental mercury (Hg0) removal from flue gas using UV/H2O2 advanced oxidation processes

Degradation Mechanisms of Six Typical Glucosidic Bonds of Disaccharides Induced by Free Radicals

Increasing hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)-based systems have been developed to degrade various polysaccharides due to the presence of highly reactive free radicals, but published degradation mechanisms are still limited. Therefore, this study aimed to clarify the degradation mechanism of six typical glucosidic bonds from different disaccharides in an ultraviolet (UV)/H2O2 system. The results showed that the H2O2 concentration, disaccharide concentration, and radiation intensity were important factors affecting pseudo-first-order kinetic constants. Hydroxyl radical, superoxide radical, and UV alone contributed 58.37, 18.52, and 19.17% to degradation, respectively. The apparent degradation rates ranked in the order of cellobiose ≈ lactose > trehalose ≈ isomaltose > turanose > sucrose ≈ maltose. The reaction pathways were then deduced after identifying their degradation products. According to quantum chemical calculations, the cleavage of α-glycosidic bonds was more kinetically unfavorable than that of β-glycosidic bonds. Additionally, the order of apparent degradation rates depended on the energy barriers for the formation of disaccharide-based alkoxyl radicals. Moreover, energy barriers for homolytic scissions of glucosidic C1-O or C7-O sites of these alkoxyl radicals ranked in the sequence: α-(1 → 2) ≈ α-(1 → 3) < α-(1 → 4) < β-(1 → 4) < α-(1 → 6) < α-(1 → 1) glucosidic bonds. This study helps to explain the mechanisms of carbohydrate degradation by free radicals.

Insights into the mechanisms underlying the degradation of xylooligosaccharides in UV/H2O2 system

UV/H₂O₂ process is increasingly used to degrade carbohydrates, though the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. This study aimed to fill this knowledge gap, focusing on mechanisms and energy consumption involved in hydroxyl radical (•OH)-mediated degradation of xylooligosaccharides (XOSs) in UV/H₂O₂ system. Results showed that UV photolysis of H₂O₂ generated large amounts of •OH radicals, and degradation kinetics of XOSs fitted with a pseudo-first-order model. Xylobiose (X₂) and xylotriose (X₃), main oligomers in XOSs, were attacked easier by •OH radicals. Their hydroxyl groups were largely converted to carbonyl groups and then carboxy groups. The cleavage rate of glucosidic bonds was slightly higher than that of pyranose ring, and exo-site glucosidic bonds were more easily cleaved than endo-site bonds. The terminal hydroxyl groups of xylitol were more efficiently oxidized than other hydroxyl groups of it, causing an initial accumulation of xylose. Oxidation products from xylitol and xylose included ketoses, aldoses, hydroxy acids and aldonic acids, indicating the complexity of •OH radical-induced XOSs degradation. Quantum chemistry calculations revealed 18 energetically viable reaction mechanisms, with the conversion of hydroxy-alkoxyl radicals to hydroxy acids being the most energetically favorable (energy barriers <0.90 kcal/mol). This study will provide more understanding of •OH radicals-mediated degradation of carbohydrates.

Enhanced cyanogen chloride formation after UV/PS and UV/H2O2 pre-oxidation and chlorination in natural river water

Ultraviolet/persulfate (UV/PS) and Ultraviolet/hydrogen peroxide (UV/H₂O₂) have attracted much attention in recent years as advanced oxidation processes for water treatment. However, it is not all clear how these two methods affect the formation of cyanogen chloride (CNCl) in the subsequent water chlorination process. In this study, it was found that both UV/H₂O₂ and UV/PS pre-oxidation promoted the formation of CNCl in six actual water samples collected from urban rivers. Glycine, uric acid, arginine and histidine were investigated as the model compounds to explore the effects of different methods on the production of CNCl. The results showed that compared with chlorination alone, pre-oxidation by UV/H₂O₂ and UV/PS can reduce the production of CNCl for glycine and uric acid by up to 95% during post-chlorination process. However, they can greatly promote the formation of CNCl for arginine and histidine by up to 120-fold. In a more detailed investigation, pre-oxidation of histidine formed highly reactive intermediates to chlorine, leading to increased CNCl formation and chlorine consumption. The results showed that the precursors of CNCl was altered after pre-oxidation, and need to be re-evaluated.

Impact of gas impurities on the Hg0 oxidation on high iron and calcium coal ash for chemical looping combustion

Coal-based mercury pollution from power plants has received increasing attention. In a previous study, high iron and calcium coal ash (HICCA) was found as a promising oxygen carrier (OC) for chemical looping combustion (CLC). The purpose of this study was to investigate the catalytic effect of HICCA on Hg⁰ removal as well as the impacts of several gas impurities, such as HCl, SO₂, and NO. Experiments on Hg⁰ removal efficiencies for different atmospheres were performed in the fixed-bed reactor at 850 °C. Based upon the characterization of BET, SEM, XRD, XPS, and EDS of reaction products, the reaction mechanisms of different gases with the HICCA samples were established. The mechanisms were further explained using the thermodynamic equilibrium calculations. The experimental results showed that the Hg⁰ removal efficiency using HICCA was 11.60%, while the corresponding value in the presence of 50 ppm HCl was 90.46%. Hg⁰ removal by HICCA involving HCl is mainly attributed to homogeneous reaction between Hg⁰ and HCl as well as the formation of reactive species (Cl, Cl₂, Cl₂O, O, S, and SCl₂) through the reactions of HCl with Fe₂O₃ and CaSO₄ in HICCA. The formation of C-Cl bond is not the main pathway for the promotional effect of HCl on Hg⁰ removal. SO₂ played a negative role in Hg⁰ removal by HICCA. The inhibition of SO₂ may be attributed to its effect on the reduction of Fe₂O₃ and its bonding with C-O, COOH, and C(O)-O-C. NO enhanced Hg⁰ removal by HICCA primarily through the homogeneous reactions of Hg⁰ with N₂O and O. In addition, NO also interacted with HICCA and promoted the heterogeneous oxidation of Hg⁰ by producing more C-O, C=O, and COOH/C(O)-O-C on HICCA surface. This study proved the effectiveness of HICCA on Hg⁰ removal in iG-CLC and revealed the mechanisms of the interaction between HCl/SO₂/NO and M_xO_y/CaSO₄ as well as carbon-oxygen groups.

Removal of Hg0, NO, and SO2 by the surface dielectric barrier discharge coupled with Mn/Ce/Ti-based catalyst

In this study, power parameters (power, frequency, and voltage), initial Hg⁰ concentration, and residence time are investigated for the removal of the increased Hg⁰ concentration via surface dielectric barrier discharge (SDBD). The synergistic effect of a Mn/Ce/Ti catalyst with SDBD is verified with a mixture of flue gas (Hg⁰, NO, and SO₂). Results show that Hg⁰ oxidation efficiency has an optimal frequency, which declines as the input voltage increases. The amplification of the Hg⁰ removal efficiency decreases as voltage increases. The effect of the initial Hg⁰ concentration gradually decreases as the peak voltage increases. The residence time slightly affects the Hg⁰ removal efficiency at a high peak voltage. The cooling water temperature behaves differently on Hg⁰ oxidation under high and low voltages. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) reveals the relative atomic concentrations of Mn²⁺ and Mn³⁺ in the Mn-TiO₂ and Mn-Ce-TiO₂ catalysts are 66.84% and 65.80%, respectively, which indicate that Ce addition will not affect surface Mn. Mn has a limited catalytic action on the removal of flue gas with and without SDBD. Nevertheless, SDBD can stimulate the oxygen storage capacity of Mn to increase the NO₂ conversion rate. Mn-Ce-TiO₂ greatly improves the removal efficiencies of NO and SO₂ because of the existence of the redox pairs of Mn⁴⁺/Mn³⁺, Ce⁴⁺/Ce³⁺, and Ti⁴⁺/Ti³⁺. However, the three catalysts slightly differ on Hg⁰ removal when combined with SDBD, indicating that the effect of the catalyst was weakened after SDBD was added.

Research on NO and SO2 removal using TiO2-supported iron catalyst with vaporized H2O2 in a catalytic oxidation combined with absorption process

Simultaneous removal of NOx and SO₂ is carried out by an oxidation-absorption process, which NO oxidized by active hydroxyl radicals (·OH) derived from catalytic decomposition of vaporized H₂O₂ over Fe₃O₄/TiO₂ and then adsorbed by NaOH solution along with SO₂. Fe₃O₄/TiO₂ synthesized by wet impregnation method with an additional reduction under H₂ atmosphere was characterized by XRD, FTIR, BET, XPS, and VSM analysis. Effects of H₂O₂ concentration, H₂O₂ injection rate, reaction temperature, gas flow rate, and flue gas component on simultaneous removal were investigated. The experimental results show that NO can be effectively oxidized by highly reactive ·OH radicals generated from H₂O₂ decomposition over Fe₃O₄/TiO₂ catalyst, and removal efficiencies of 93.31% for NO, 85.90% for NOx, and 100% for SO₂ were obtained. The surface zero-valent iron (Fe⁰) and divalent iron (Fe²⁺) are the key factors of the catalytic oxidation with hydroxyl radical. H₂O₂ adsorption and dissociation mechanism on catalyst surface was studied using DFT calculation. The calculation results demonstrate that H₂O₂ prefers to dissociate on iron containing surface, and ·OH radicals generation follow by Haber-Weiss (H-W) mechanism. The stable oxidative product of HNO₂ and HNO₃ were generated through NO/NO₂ and H₂O₂ co-adsorption on the FeO/TiO₂ (0 0 1) surface.

Radical-induced oxidation removal of multi-air-pollutant: A critical review

Sulfur dioxide (SO₂), nitric oxide (NO) and elemental mercury (Hg⁰) are three common air pollutants in flue gas. SO₂ and NO are the main precursors for chemical smog and Hg⁰ is a bio-toxicant for human. Cooperative removal of multi-air-pollutant in flue gas using radical-induced oxidation reaction is considered as one of the most promising methods due to the high removal efficiency, low cost and less secondary environmental impact. The common radicals used in air pollution control can be classified into four types: (1) hydroxyl radical (OH), (2) sulfate radical (SO₄^-), (3) chlorine-containing radicals (Cl, ClO₂, ClO, HOCl^-, etc.) and (4) ozone. This review summarizes the generation methods and mechanism of the four kinds of radicals, as well as their applications in the removal of multi-air-pollutant in flue gas. The reactivity, selectivity and reaction mechanism of the four kinds of radicals in multi-air-pollutant removal were comprehensively described. Finally, some future research suggestions on the development of new technique for cooperative removal of multi-air-pollutant in flue gas were provided.

Simultaneous removal of nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxide using ultrasonically atomized hydrogen peroxide

A new method was developed for denitrification and desulfurization using hydrogen peroxide with the aid of an ultrasonic nebulizer to obtain high removal efficiency of NOx and SO₂. Comparing with the atomizing nozzles having the aperture size of 0.01~0.02 mm, the droplets generated using the ultrasonic nebulizer show the smallest d₅₀ value of 7.2 μm, with 72% possessing the size less than 10 μm. Based on the numerical simulation of the vaporization rate of droplets, it is indicated that the droplets with the size of 7.2 μm can be vaporized totally at very short residence time (0.11 s) under 130 °C. Effects of influence factors including the reaction temperature, the initial H₂O₂ concentration, pH value, and the flue gas flow rate were studied on the removal efficiencies of NO and SO₂. Using the in-series double-oxidation subsystems with H₂O₂ concentration of 6 wt%, pH 5.0, and the reaction temperature of 130 °C, the removal efficiencies of SO₂ and NO are respectively 100% and 89.3% at the short residence time of 1.8 s, and the removal efficiency of NO can be increased to 100% as the residence time is longer than 3.7 s. It is confirmed that the ultrasonically atomized H₂O₂ can indeed enhance the removal efficiencies of NO and SO₂ at the optimal temperature, owing to the fast vaporization rate of fine droplets as well as the formation of more active radicals to be captured by NO and SO₂ simultaneously. The results here provide a promising route to remove effectively the emissions of NO and SO₂ simultaneously. Graphical abstract.