Removal of elementary mercury from residues produced during natural gas recovery comprises separating out elementary mercury and foreign materials, re-suspending, classifying fine and coarse solids and further treating

摘要

Process for removing elementary mercury from residues produced during natural gas recovery comprises separating out elementary mercury and foreign materials from the residues in a pre-separator (4); re-suspending the residues through a solvent to remove the inhibitor residues from the mercury and collecting and removing further elemental mercury; classifying fine solids and coarse solids including mercury from the re-suspension; testing the fine solids for mercury liberation and collecting the solids, optionally recycling the solids back to the re-suspending step in case the solids are not free from mercury; separating the residual mercury from the coarse solids and collecting the mercury by centrifuging; collecting coarse and fine radioactive solids; recycling inhibitor-saturated solvents to the process, and disposing of the solvents. An Independent claim is also included for a device for removing elementary mercury from residues produced during natural gas recovery comprising a pre-separator (4) containing a retaining device (7) for the foreign materials and a collecting device (10) for the further transport of the residues; a mixer (24) for re-suspending the residues with solvent; a cyclone (28) having a stirrer (30) and connected to the mixer; a centrifuge (34) for separating fine materials from the solvent; and a centrifuge (40) for separating coarse solids, remaining solvent and mercury.