TEMPORAL VARIABILITY OF MERCURY EMISSIONS FROM A COAL-FIRED POWER PLANT IN MEXICO

Resumen

According to the Minamata Convention it is necessary to determine the mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants in Mexico due to Mexico’s responsibility to reduce its mercury emissions into the atmosphere. For this purpose, we used the coal consumption data provided directly by the Federal Electricity Commission of Mexico, which include emissions per day and per generating unit for the year 2013. To determine the mercury emissions from a coal-fired power plant in Mexico, we used the US Environmental Protection Agency methodology and focused on the Presidente Plutarco Elías Calles (CETEPEC) power plant, because in Mexico there are no methodologies to determine mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants. The results show that mercury emissions from units 1 to 6 of the CETEPEC plant range from 0.5 to 1.2 kg/day; however, emissions from unit 7 are as high as 2 kg/day. The total mercury emissions from the CETEPEC power plant in 2013 were 1942 kg, of which 1698 kg were gaseous elemental mercury (Hg⁰), 243 kg gaseous oxidized mercury (Hg²⁺), and 1.2 kg particle-bound mercury (Hg_p). This study is relevant in Mexico and indicates an advance on the control of mercury emissions from the CETEPEC power plant, in accordance to the Minamata Convention.