Modelling of Mercury Emissions from Large Solid Fuel Combustion and Biomonitoring in CZ-PL Border Region

Tightening of norms for air protection leads to a development of new and significantly more effective techniques for removing particulate matter, SO_x and NO_x from flue gas which originates from large solid fuel combustion. Recently, it has been found that combinations of these environmental technologies can also lead to the reduction of mercury emissions from coal power plants. Now the greatest attention is paid especially to the coal power plant in Opatovice nad Labem, close to Hradec Kralove. Its system for flue gas dedusting was replaced by a modern type of cloth fabric filter with the highest particle separation efficiency which belongs to the category of BAT. Using this technology, together with modernization of the desulphurisation device and increasing of nitrogen oxides removal efficiency, leads also to a reduction of mercury emissions from this power plant. The University of Hradec Kralove, the Opole University and EMPLA Hradec Kralove successfully cooperate in the field of toxic metals biomonitoring almost 20 years. In the Czech-Polish border region, comprehensive biomonitoring of mercury in bioindicators Xerocomus badius in 9 long-term monitored reference points is done. The values of mercury concentration measured in 2012 and 2016 were compared with values computed by a dispersion model SYMOS′97 (updated 2014). Thanks to modern methods of dedusting and desulphurisation, emissions of mercury from this large coal power plant are now smaller than before and that the downward trends continues. The results indicate that Xerocomus badius is a suitable bioindicator for a long-term monitoring of changes in mercury imissions in this forested border region. This finding is significant because it shows that this region is suitable for leisure, recreation, and rehabilitation.