This Small Business Innovation Research Phase I project addresses the national need to continuously measure the total mercury emissions from stationary sources such as incinerators and coal-fired boilers. The proposed development of a compact sample conditioning system for the production of elemental mercury vapor from ionic mercury compounds, which can then be interfaced to a low-cost micro-sensor-based mercury vapor analyzer, yields a unique combination of advantages to satisy this need. The small sample size required by the micro-sensors in these instruments will both prolong their useful lifetime in corrosive environments and greatly simplify any sample-conditioning requirements. Moreover, they can be mass produced on silicon wafers using standard methods to significantly reduce costs, while achieving high reproducibility and minimizing calibration requirements. The Phase I research will focus on the development, evaluation, and optimization of the sample conditioning system for continuous monitoring of total mercury from stationary sources. The successful development of the proposed technology will result in a new generation of continuous total mercury monitoring systems with an unprecedented combination of features, including ruggedness, low maintenance, rapid response, high sensitivity, compactness and low cost. These new monitoring systems will be used to measure and verify reductions in mercury emissions from stationary sources as well as to perform water and soil analysis. Markets for the instrumentation include thousands of individual coal-fired power plants, municipal waste incinerators, industrial boilers, refineries, minerals processing and smelting facilities, metal fabrication shops, and the pulp and paper industry.
