Washington University, 2 industries, team to clean up mercury...( Washington University in St. Louis i...)

Washington University in St. Louis is partnering with Chrysler LLC and a major Midwest utility company in a project to determine if paint solid residues from automobile manufacturing can reduce emissions of mercury from electric power plants.

The project is based upon the technical expertise of Pratim Biswas, Ph.D., Stifel & Quinette Jens Professor of Environmental Engineering Science, who has demonstrated the effectiveness of titanium dioxide in controlling mercury in lab and recent field studies. He heads the project that will test a mercury removal process in a full-scale power plant.

The electric power industry currently is studying the use of various other chemicals to remove mercury from power plant emissions.

The U.S, government has implemented the worlds first requirements to cut mercury emissions from electric power plants.

For the past year, Chrysler has recycled dry paint solid residues from its two St. Louis assembly plants for use as an alternative fuel in Ameren Corporations nearby Meramec electric utility plant. Prior to this project, Chryslers St. Louis plants were sending one million pounds of dried paint solids to landfills each year.

Now, the paint solids replace about 570 tons of coal per year in the Ameren plant.

The paint solid residues contain titanium dioxide, which has the potential to remove mercury from coal-powered plant emissions without affecting other processes in the plant. Mercury is chemically bonded with titanium oxide, a process known as chemisorption, and thus is potentially easier to trap in the plants emissions scrubber system, research has found.

Our Paint to Power program in St. Louis is a recycling success story. Rather than filling up scarce landfill space, we are using these paint wastes to produce power for St. Louis residents and businesses, said Deb Morrissett, Vice President of Regulatory Affairs at Chrysler.

Now we may be able to build on t
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