SOME DISTINCTIVE REACTIONS OF MERCURY INVOLVED IN ITS REMOVAL FROM CONTAMINATED SOLID-WASTE AND SLUDGE

When found in many common compounds as well as when adsorbed in soil a nd sludge mercury is transformed into the elemental form by heating to 280 degrees C in an aqueous environment. This process is thought to p ass through a hydrolysis to HgO followed by a dissociation into Hg and O. Understanding this process may facilitate tile removal of mercury from polluted material in two ways, namely 1) Volatilization with stea m of the hydrothermally formed Hg-0, and 2) Amalgamation with certain other metals, which appear in gilded computer scrap, liquid tin and al uminum chips.