Atium has initiated a pilot project together with Boliden to investigate the possibility of removing mercury from concentrated sulfuric acid, produced in Boliden’s smelters. The aim is to verify the performance and scalability of Atium’s technology and quantify the cost and quality improvements it can provide to Boliden’s smelting operations. The project is funded by Vinnova within the Swedish Mining Innovation-program and will be performed together with Chalmers University (Project coordinator), IVL and Chalmers Innovation Office.
Link to Swedish Mining Innovation’s press release.
Short facts about sulphuric acid:
- It is the worlds most widely used chemical with an annual production of around 250 million metric tonnes.
- Common applications include fertilizers, mining, pulp & paper and chemical production.
- It is often produced as a by-product in smelters by processing the sulfur rich flue gases, where mercury is a specific quality concern.
- Today mercury is removed in the flue gas-phase, but can leak through in varying amounts. If it reaches the acid-phase it affects the overall quality of the acid and there is currently no commercial solution for removing mercury from concentrated sulphuric acid.