Application of solar thermal desorption to remediation of mercury-contaminated soils

Solar thermal desorption at temperatures up to 500 °C is an innovative technology applied to the removal of mercury and arsenic from soil polluted by mining operations. As the soil is heated in a low and high-temperature solar system, the pollutant vapor pressure rises, producing mass transfer to the gas phase, which is then extracted by vacuum pumps and blower systems. In the UPC low-temperature experiments, removal of mercury from the polluted soil was as much as 76%. The experimental results show that volatilization of mercury is only significant when the temperature is above approximately 130 °C, which agrees with the predominant mercury solid phases detected. PSA middle-temperature experiments, showed that when soil and mine waste samples were heated to 400–500 °C, mercury elimination was significant (41.3–87%). However, the results from heating to 320 °C or below 300 °C, indicated little or negligible removal, possibly, because the fluid dynamics in the fluidized-bed module and the presence of cinnabar and pyrite rich-Hg as dominant mineral phases. These results show the potential for efficiently removing mercury and other pollutants from solid matrices (soil, waste, etc.) at low temperatures.