DEVELOPMENT AND COMMERCIALIZATION OF AN OZONE GENERATOR FOR THE OXIDATION OF MERCURY IN FLUE GASSES By Justin Douglas Isaacs Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements For the degree of Master of Science Department of Biology CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY August, 2013 CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES We hereby approve the thesis/dissertation of Justin Isaacs candidate for the Master of Science degree *. (signed) Dr. Christopher Cullis (chair of the committee) Mike Neundorfer Dr. Peter McCall (date) 4/17/2013 *We also certify that written approval has been obtained for any proprietary material contained therein. ii!!!!!!!!!!!! Dedicated to my loving and supportive family. iii!!!!!!!!!!! ! Table of Contents Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 1 Need .................................................................................................................................... 3 Forms of Mercury ................................................................................................... 3 Sources .................................................................................................................... 4 Exposure ................................................................................................................. 4 Ecological Effects ................................................................................................... 6 Human Health Effects ............................................................................................. 7 Reducing Releases - Mercury Air Toxics Standards .............................................. 7 Current Pollution Control Solutions ....................................................................... 9 Electrostatic Precipitators ........................................................................... 9 Bag Houses ................................................................................................. 9 Flue-Gas Desulfurization Scrubbers ......................................................... 10 Selective Catalytic Reduction ................................................................... 11 Approach ........................................................................................................................... 12 Neundorfer Solution .............................................................................................. 12 Ozone .................................................................................................................... 13 Mercury Speciation ............................................................................................... 15 Neundorfer Ozone Generator ................................................................................ 16 Power Supply ............................................................................................ 18 Throat Assembly ....................................................................................... 19 Variable Frequency Drive fan ................................................................... 20 Programmable Logic Controller / Human/Machine Interface .................. 21 Ozone Contactor ....................................................................................... 22 Operation ............................................................................................................... 23 Application of Technology ................................................................................... 24 Ozone Demand ...................................................................................................... 26 Intellectual Property .............................................................................................. 27 Cost ....................................................................................................................... 28 Competition ....................................................................................................................... 30 Mercury Remediation Competition ...................................................................... 30 Activated Carbon Injection ....................................................................... 30 Calcium Bromide ...................................................................................... 31 Ozone Generator Competition .............................................................................. 31 Spartan Environmental .............................................................................. 33 Ozonia ....................................................................................................... 34 Guardian Manufacturing ........................................................................... 35 Benefits/Costs ................................................................................................................... 36 Ozone Production Benefits ................................................................................... 36 Mercury Remediation Benefits ............................................................................. 37 iv!!!!!!!!!!! ! Analysis ............................................................................................................................. 38 VRIO ................................................................................................................... 38 Resources vs. Capabilities ........................................................................ 38 Valuable .................................................................................................... 39 Rare ........................................................................................................... 39 Inimitable .................................................................................................. 40 Organization .............................................................................................. 40 SWOT ................................................................................................................... 41 Strengths ................................................................................................... 41 Weaknesses ............................................................................................... 42 Opportunities ............................................................................................. 42 Threats ....................................................................................................... 43 Business Model Canvas ........................................................................................ 43 Dashboard ............................................................................................................. 43 Future Suggestions ............................................................................................................ 44 Bench Top Experiment ......................................................................................... 44 Simulated Flue Gasses .............................................................................. 44 Mercury Vapor .......................................................................................... 45 Ozone ........................................................................................................ 45 Simulated Bag House or Scrubber ............................................................ 45 Instrumentation ......................................................................................... 46 Other Suggestions ................................................................................................. 47 Appendix ........................................................................................................................... 49 Works Cited ...................................................................................................................... 56 v!!!!!!!!!!!! List of Tables Table 1. Examples of mercury’s effects on various ecological components. .................... 6 Table 2. Cost of goods for Neundorfer’s ozone generator technology. ........................... 29 vi!!!!!!!!!!! ! List of Figures Figure 1. Elemental mercury at standard pressure and temperature. ................................. 4 Figure 2. Illustration of the mercury cycle. ........................................................................ 5 Figure 3. Portions of U.S. air pollutants emitted by power plants. .................................... 8 Figure 4. Formation of ozone (O3) from elemental oxygen (O2) by corona discharge. .. 13 Figure 5. Schematic of Neundorfer’s ozone generator technology ................................. 17 Figure 6. NWL PowerPlus series 6 (front and back). ...................................................... 18 Figure 7. Throat assembly as seen from the side and looking head on with the discharge electrodes .......................................................................................................................... 19 Figure 8. PLR fan made by The New York Blower Company ........................................ 20 Figure 9. Variable frequency drive (closed and open). .................................................... 20 Figure 10. Programmable logic controller (open). ........................................................... 21 Figure 11. Human/Machine interface. ............................................................................. 21 Figure 12. Industrial size venturis typical