Mercury Vapor Removal
Activated Carbon for Mercury Vapor Removal in Air and Process Streams
Mercury vapor is unique among air pollutants: it is elemental, highly volatile, and toxic at concentrations far below typical detection thresholds.
In dental clinics, mercury recovery facilities, and certain chemical processes, the vapor accumulates in HVAC systems and occupied spaces, creating chronic occupational exposure that may not trigger immediate symptoms but causes cumulative neurological damage. The carbon must capture this invisible threat reliably at ambient temperatures and low concentrations.
The Challenge & PureStar Approach
The challenge is chemisorption at low concentration and temperature.
Physical adsorption alone is insufficient for elemental mercury; the carbon must incorporate a chemical binding mechanism that immobilizes mercury atoms at the molecular level. Yet many impregnated formulations lose effectiveness as humidity increases or as competing organics occupy active sites.
The Operational Risk: Standard physical adsorption fails to trap elemental mercury permanently, while conventional chemical impregnants often collapse under humid conditions, causing undetected mercury leakage.
The PureStar Solution
PureStar's mercury vapor grades employ sulfur-amalgam surface chemistry that chemisorbs elemental mercury with high affinity even in humid, mixed-gas environments:
- Humidity-Resistant Chemisorption: Our formulations maintain stable, irreversible capture capacity across the full humidity ranges typical of indoor air and process ventilation systems.
- High Surface-to-Volume Ratios: For medical, dental, and laboratory applications where space is limited, our compact pellet and granular forms deliver high protection capacity within small filter housings, maximizing efficiency per unit volume.
