METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CONVERTING OXIDIZED MERCURY INTO ELEMENTAL MERCURY

摘要

An oxidized mercury converter utilizes a combination of heat, reduced pressure, and dilution when converting oxidized mercury in a gas sample into elemental mercury. The converter applies heat to a gas sample to thermally convert oxidized mercury within a gas sample into elemental mercury and an oxidizing component, and thereafter reduces the pressure of the gas sample to minimize combination of the elemental mercury with other oxidizing compounds present in the gas sample and/or with byproducts of the thermal conversion (e.g., the oxidizing components). The converter thus allows an accurate analysis of the total amount of mercury, both oxidized and elemental forms, present within a gas sample without the need to use consumable reagents in the mercury conversion process.