Institute for NanoBioTechnology Seminar: Vladimir Nikolakis

Description

Vladimir Nikolakis, a catalyst scientist at W.L. Gore and Associates, will give a talk entitled, "Exploring the Effects of Liquid in the Pore Network of Sorbent Polymer Composites on Transport and Adsorption for the Removal of Hg from Flue Gas" for the Institute for NanoBioTechnology.

W.L Gore & Associates Inc. has developed an innovative technology, called the GORE™ Mercury Control System for addressing the need for decreasing mercury emissions from industrial flue gas stacks around the world. The GORE Mercury Control System is based on discrete stackable modules comprised of sorbent polymer composite (SPC) materials with an open channel geometry. Hg is chemisorbed from the flue gas and bound into the SPC, filling a fraction of the pores with sulfuric acid and due to the hydrophobic nature of the SPC, the liquid acid is expelled, having an adverse reaction on Hg capture rates. Nikolakis will discuss the challenges associated with the unique fixed sorbent system, which provides SO₂ removal and characterizes the pore network of SPC tapes. He will reveal how his team worked to develop and analyze techniques to obtain a 3-D reconstruction of the SPC pore network and provide examples.