Mercury removal from gas and liquid streams is a critical process step to protect equipment, downstream catalysts and the environment. Mercury is highly toxic, promotes corrosion mechanisms and is subject to strict regulatory emission limits. In gas processing applications such as natural gas treatment, LNG, refinery streams and chlor-alkali processes, specialized mercury removal adsorbents are used to permanently capture both elemental and oxidized mercury species.
Technically, mercury removal is primarily achieved by adsorption on highly porous, chemically modified solids, typically based on activated carbon or metal oxide carriers. Through targeted impregnation, particularly with sulfur, mercury is chemisorbed as stable, poorly soluble mercury sulfide and safely retained within the adsorbent structure. This approach allows mercury concentrations to be reduced to trace or undetectable levels, ensuring reliable protection of downstream units and process steps.
As specialists in gas purification, C&CS recommends the ActiSorb™ Hg series for efficient mercury removal:
ActiSorb™ Hg 2 is a sulfur-impregnated activated carbon adsorbent designed for the removal of trace mercury from gas streams with varying compositions. It effectively reduces mercury to undetectable concentrations and is especially suited for natural gas treatment and gas processing applications.
ActiSorb™ Hg 1 and ActiSorb™ Hg 5 are high-performance fixed-bed mercury removal adsorbents developed for the purification of hydrocarbon feedstocks, off-gases and process gases. They are widely applied in chlorine chemistry, refineries and related industrial processes where reliable mercury control is essential.
ActiSorb™ Hg 1, Hg 2 and Hg 5 combine high adsorption capacity, fast reaction kinetics and robust performance even under humid operating conditions. This enables safe, economical and compliant plant operation. In addition, our catalysis laboratory can evaluate mercury removal applications on a laboratory scale and support the development of optimized, application-specific solutions.
