Mercury Emissions Technology Patent Affirmed in USPTO Reexamination

Alstoms patent for its injection methodology to enhance mercury removal in coal-fired power plants has been further affirmed during reexamination by the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

This patent (No. 8,069,797), awarded in 2012, relates to the technology named Mer-Cure that injects powdered activated carbon into a plants flue gas at a high temperature location, to reduce mercury emissions.

The USPTOs latest action during its reexamination of our patent further affirms our belief in the strength and value of our intellectual property. The process has strengthened our Mer-Cure patent and has given us an opportunity to solidify our intellectual property by adding new claims. We are pleased with the outcome and look forward to supporting our customers in achieving the lowest cost of operation to meet Mercury and Air Toxics (MATS) compliance by 2016 and 2017 commented Jim Gino, General Manager, Boiler Services Engineered Projects Group.

In related developments, Alstom reports that the Mer-Cure Lite product testing at a Midwest power plant indicates up to a 30 percent reduction in sorbent consumption, versus systems injecting sorbent downstream of the air preheater. Since first introduced by Alstom, injection of sorbents upstream of the air preheater has become the industrys preferred injection location methodology for lowering mercury emissions from power plants.