Lehigh Permanente to cut its mercury emissions

The Lehigh Permanente cement plant, located in Cupertino, California, has announced that it is to cut its mercury emissions by up to 90%, using its new activated carbon injection system, which was installed in April.

The plant started using the new system last month. According to the plant’s manager, Henrik Wesseling: “The activated carbon has the ability to basically act like a sponge or a magnet and attract those mercury elements which are then attached to the activated carbon particle”. Most of the mercury is then put back into the cement.

It is hoped that this system will ensure that the plant meets incoming Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards that are set to limit cement companies’ mercury emissions to 55 lb (approximately 25 kg)/1 million t of clinker. Cement companies must comply with these new standards by September 2013.

Local reports also suggest that Lehigh is to install an EPA-approved monitoring system at the plant in October, in an attempt to allay local fears concerning the plant’s mercury emissions.

Read the article online at: https://www.worldcement.com/the-americas/06062011/lehigh_permanente_to_cut_its_mercury_emissions/