Study on the removal characteristics of different air pollution control devices for condensable particulate matter in coal-fired power plants

This study reports the emissions of condensable particulate matter (CPM) and filterable particulate matter (FPM) in two coal-fired power plants with different air pollution control devices (APCDs). The mechanisms of CPM removed by existing APCDs in coal-fired power plants were explored, and a series of analyses were also carried out on the composition and characteristics of CPM. The results show that the removal efficiencies to CPM by electrostatic-bag-precipitator (EBP) and ESP are 77.34% and 79.23%, respectively, so the difference is not obvious because the interception filtration mechanisms of baghouses for CPM have less effect on CPM compared to FPM. The mechanism of EBP/ESP to remove CPM is mainly electrostatic adsorption and FPM's adsorption. The concentration of CPM decreases when passing through WFGD. However, the WESP can increase the CPM in different ways. For example, the pollution of the circulation of the flushing fluid may cause the increase of CPM. In addition, CPM mainly includes three parts. The first part is organic fractions such as alkanes and esters; the second is the water-soluble ions that include SO₄^2-, NH₄⁺, and Cl^-; and the third is Na, Ca, and other minerals. The research in this study is helpful to understand the impact of existing APCDs in coal-fired power plants on CPM and the sources of CPM.

Sorption of antibiotic sulfamethoxazole varies with biochars produced at different temperatures

Sorption of sulfonamides on biochars is poorly understood, thus sulfamethoxazole (SMX) sorption on biochars produced at 300-600 °C was determined as a function of pH and SMX concentration, as well as the inorganic fractions in the biochars. Neutral SMX molecules (SMX(0)) were dominant for sorption at pH 1.0-6.0. Above pH 7.0, although biochars surfaces were negatively-charged, anionic SMX species sorption increased with pH and is regulated via charge-assisted H-bonds. SMX(0) sorption at pH 5.0 was nonlinear and adsorption-dominant for all the biochars via hydrophobic interaction, π-π electron donor-acceptor interaction and pore-filling. The removal of inorganic fraction reduced SMX sorption by low-temperature biochars (e.g., 300 °C), but enhanced the sorption by high-temperature biochars (e.g., 600 °C) due to the temperature-dependent inorganic fractions in the biochars. These observations are useful for producing designer biochars as engineered sorbents to reduce the bioavailability of antibiotics and/or predict the fate of sulfonamides in biochar-amended soils.