Natalie Johnson, Brown senior concentrating in chemical engineering

Undergraduate poster award in the environmental section of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, National Meeting, Salt Lake City. November 2007

Title: The Characterization and Capture of Mercury Released from Broken Fluorescent Bulbs

The market for compact fluorescent light bulbs is growing rapidly, but they contain mercury, which may be released to the environment when the bulb is broken, either at home or after disposal.  Natalie measures mercury vapor release in real time and is developing an adsorbant system for capturing the toxic metal and stabilizing it in landfill environments.


William Turnbull, Brown senior concentrating in chemical engineering

Undergraduate poster award in the environmental section of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, National Meeting, Salt Lake City. November 2007

Title: Sequestration and Separation of Mercury in Wet Flue Gas Desulfurization Systems

Mercury is one of the nation's highest priority pollutants and its largest anthropogenic source is coal-fired power plants.  Many plants use liquid reagents to remove sulfur dioxide and the mercury becomes dissolved in these liquids and incorporated into plant byproducts.  Will is working on an activated-carbon-based method to stabilize and capture the mercury and prevent its eventual release from these byproducts to the environment.