Bromine Injection Technology

Southern Research has developed an innovative patent-pending technology to convert calcium bromide into bromine gas and benign byproducts while simultaneously injecting the bromine into a flue-gas duct at any location in the plant. The system injects calcium bromide through a reactor and a catalytic chamber, converting it to bromine gas and creating non-toxic quicklime and calcium hydroxide. Southern Research is currently seeking a partner interested in providing assistance for the commercial development of this technology, which has a variety of important commercial applications.

Technology Features/Benefits

• A primary benefit of the bromine conversion and injection technology for power plants is the mitigation of mercury emissions. Bromine gas has been shown to effectively oxidize the elemental mercury found in coal-fired flue gas to form mercuric bromide, which is more efficiently captured by and retained in wet scrubbers than mercuric chloride.
• The non-toxic quicklime and calcium hydroxide byproducts can be used at the plant or disposed of safely, addressing a potential safety hazard by eliminating the need to transport toxic or hazardous liquids or gases onto or off the plant site.
• This innovative technology eliminates potential problems associated with the addition of calcium bromide to coal, including: potential corrosion in the boiler and super heater; loss of bromine in the system; and the ineffectiveness of bromine on coal when applied to a high-chlorine coal.
• Because this technology allows injection of bromine gas at any location, it is particularly useful for process-specific technologies requiring bromine to be injected as bromine gas at a specific location.

For additional information about partnering with Southern Research in the commercial development of our bromine technology for Hg mitigation technology, please contact:

Tom Gale, Ph.D.
Manager, Power Systems Research
205-581-2102
gale@southernresearch.org