Affordable Mercury Recapture System Cleans Up Gold Production

Dec-29-14 The MCS recapture system helps limit heavy metal pollution by capturing the mercury used to process the valuable and high-demand material.

In many developing countries, mercury is still used to 'dissolve' gold and ease in its removal. However, some mercury often remains in the gold even after smelting, and will be released by goldsmiths in their city shops. This mercury then enters the air and returns to earth, where it can fall into the water and enter the food chain.

To help reduce the airborne mercury, the Argonne National Laboratory teamed with the EPA to create the mercury capture system (MCS). The prototype is made up of a steel drum with a circulating fan and baffles that will collect the condensed mercury when it rises into the unit as mercury vapor. The condensed mercury then travels through a piping system for removal. The unit can capture the mercury with 80 percent effectiveness and can be retrofitted onto an existing work area.

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