The Minimata Convention on Mercury was negotiated under 128 states in 2013 and came into force on August 16, 2017. Its target is to reduce the Mercury emissions to the technically lowest possible values. To follow the requirements of the Minimata Convention the EU issues the EU Industrial Emissions Directive, which will most probably lower Hg-exhaust gas emissions limits to <1-7µg/Nm³ from 2021 on. In USA very low Mercury emission values are in force already since 2012.
Today, many coal-fired power plants do not use any active Hg-reduction technology and cannot reach the emission values required. To reduce the Hg output in incineration plants, especially in large coal power plants, generally AK is metered. This takes place without special control in high concentrations resulting in high consumption quantities and costs.
Due to the preferential feed-in of renewable energies, conventional power plants are increasingly required to switch between partial and full-load operation. During these periods, Hg-emission rates as well as costs increase. These variances can only be avoided by means of intelligently controlled Hg-reduction technologies.
As the global industry advances to meet these increasing limitations, it is IEM’s mission to provide the market with MEC, the ideal solution to enable inexpensive and effective Hg emission reduction and the MEC test is vital to achieving this at scale.
Combining several technologies, MEC is designed to be installed at a plant operator combustion plant or waste incineration plant to carry out assessments at a relatively low cost. The results produced then enable us to identify the most cost-effective Hg reduction solution to enable plants to comply with emissions directives. Once available, MEC will be the only cost-effective process that enables significant Hg-reduction.
Building on our existing capabilities and our market position, our vision is to transform IEM into a leading European player for detection and control of mercury emissions. First, with support from the SME Instrument, we must complete our technological developments, build a commercial-scale fully capable production unit and patent our protectable aspects. We are confident in market success having already received significant interest from potential adopters.
During our Phase 1 Feasibility Study, we have detailed the work required to generate customer confidence in MEC as a viable means of carrying out mercury reducing assessments accurately, at low cost and meeting other market relevant KPIs.
