Mercury Emissions from Steelmaking. A Review.

Diana Roseborough & Birgitta Lindblad

The emissions of mercury from electric arc furnace steel-plants in the Nordic countries and the corresponding legislation has been reviewed and investigated. The principal analysis methods for continuous and static measurements are discussed as well as other available technologies for mercury measurement, filtering and removal. Analysis of a three-week emissions monitoring study at a single plant showed only weak correlations: raw materials may be critical to emissions, whereas stack temperature showed no correlation with total mercury emissions. In general, mercury emissions were found to be the greatest in steel plants using diverse scrap as compared to primarily automotive scrap.