Mercury emissions from industrial

sources in India

Arun B. Mukherjee1, Prosun Bhattacharya2, Atanu Sarkar3 and Ron Zevenhoven4

1Environmental Sciences, University of Helsinki, Finland.

E-mail: arun.mukherjee@helsinki.fi

2KTH-International Groundwater Research Group, Department of Land and Water Resources Engineering, Royal Institute of Technology, SE-100 44 Stockholm, Sweden

3Dept of Policy Studies, TERI University, The Energy and Resources Institute, India Habitat Centre, Lodhi Road, New Delhi 110003, India

4Heat Engineering Laboratory, Faculty of Technology, Åbo Akademi University, FIN-20500 Turku/Åbo, Finland

Purpose of the study

To find out source categories of mercury

emissions from industrial sources in India;

To estimate mercury emissions from industrial

sources;

Effects of mercury in the aquatic species in the

river Ganges;

Mercury concentration in the industrial areas;

Conclusion and Future direction.

Acknowledgements

I thank Dr. Nicola Pirrone, CNR Institute for Atmospheric Pollution, Rende, and the Italian Ministry of Environment, Land & Sea for giving me the opportunity to attend the UNEP F&T-TF HTAP meeting in Rome.

I also thank my co-author, Dr. Atanu Sarkar, The Energy & Resources Institute (TERI); New Delhi for collection of data from different sources and forwarding the same to me in Helsinki.

Sources and mercury estimation

procedure

Sources:

Coal combustion;

Iron & Steel Industry;

Non-ferrous metallurgical industry (Cu, Pb and Zn);

Chlor-alkali plants:

Cement industry;

Wastes (MSW, Hazardous wastes & E-waste)

Others (Brick manufacturing, instruments & clinical thermometers)

Hg-estimations procedure: Published EF and estimation.

Coal mining area

= 855 km2

Coal mines

= 572

Production

= 373 Mt in 2004

Coal mining information

India is the third hard coal producer in the world after PR China and the USA;

There are 170 opencast mines; 359 underground and 33 mixed mines;

About 70% of the heat and electricity production in India depends on indigenous coals.

About 41 Mt of coking coals were imported in 2005.

Figure 1. Chemistry of wet

deposition of mercury (reproduced

from Lindqvist et al., 1991)

Element 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

Copper, Cu 0.256 0.293 0.385 0.391 0.401

Sec.

Copper#

0.0071

Lead, Pb 0.057 0.074 0.064 0.078 0.042

Sec. Pb# 0.040-

0.0502

Zinc, Zn 0.176 0.207 0.232 0.254 0.238

Sec. Zn# 0.065e2

Pig Iron,

Fe

0.021 0.022 0.024 0.024 0.025

Raw Steel 0.027 0.027 0.029 0.032 0.032

Hard coal

310

312.5 333.7 340e 373

Residue

fuel oil

production3

7.965 8.308 7.855 6.905 7.267

Cement 0.10 0.10 0.10 0.11 0.11e

e = Estimated value

1Indian Copper Development Center, Kolkata (2007)

2Indian Lead Zinc Dev Association, Delhi (2007); Note: The authority mentioned that production of

secondary lead varies between 40000 to 50000 in a year 3IEA (2007);

#Secondary metal production for 2004

Table 1. Production of coal, metals, residue fuel oil,

cement in India, 2000-2004 (Mt) (USGS 2005).

Table 2. Leading Hg users in India (1998 –

2001)Sector Mercury content per unit Number of units

produced

Total mercury (in

tons)

Chlor-alkali About 200 g Hg used per

ton of Cl2 produced.

450,000 70

Thermometers 0.6 – 1.0 g 8957,0002 7.2

Batteries *Alkaline not more than

25 mg

NA

Hg-Zinc Total 33 to 50 per cent

by wt of the battery

1,650 million3 25

Zn-Carbon Total 1% Hg by wt of the

battery

NA

Fluorescent

lamps

0.0252 – 0.080 g/lamp6 150 million

3 7.89

Thermostat

switches

3 – 6 g 4051,0004 18.23

Alarm clocks Average 0.6 – 0.7 g/unit 1481,0002 0.96

Hearing aids 0.4 g/unit 95,5003 0.04

Table 4. Samples collected from

eight coal based power plants in

India (BHEL, 2004 vide Pande, 2006

Names of power plants Hg in coal mg/kg

GHTTP, Lehra, Mohabatt 0.26

Anpara, UP (BTPS) 0.26

North Chennai 0.33

NLC – TPS II 0.18

Chandrapura STPS 0.325

Kolaghat TPS (West Bengal) 0.61

Talchar TPS 0.33

Gandhinagar TPS 0.42

Range/Mean Range: 0.18 – 0.61; mean:

0.376

Table 5. Atmospheric emissions from Indian

power plants, 2000 - 2004

Year Coal, Mt Hg in coal, mg/kg Hg emission (t)

1995 - - 117*

2000 310 0.376 110.44

2001 312.5 0.376 101.25

2002 337.7 0.376 109.41

2003 340e 0.376 110.16

2004 373 0.376 120.85

*Pacyna & Pacyna (2000); Based on emission factor 0.5 g Hg/t coal

Note: Estimated emission factor in this study 0.324 g/t based on 12 µg/MJ; Calorific value of coal 27 MJ/kg

Table 6. Atmospheric mercury emissions

(in tons) from Iron & Steel Industry in

India, 2000 - 2004

Element 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

Crude steel

Production (in Mt) 26.924 27.291 28.818 31.779 32.000

Hg emissions (t)

Based on estimated

Emission factor*

0.08 – 0.09 g Hg/t 2.15 2.18 2.31 2.56 2.88

steel.

* Estimated in this study

Locations of Cu, Pb and Zn smelters in India, 2008.

Element Location Process

Copper Khetri (Rajasthan) Flash Smelting

Ghatsila (Jharkhand) ,,

Dahej (Gujarat) ,,

Tuticoran (Tamil Nadu) Ausmelt

Lead Tundoo (Jharkhand)Blast Furnace

Chhhattisgarh (Rajasthan) Imperial

Smelting (IS)

Zinc Udaipur (Rajasthan) Hydro-

metallurgy

Chhattisgarh IS

Table 7. Atmospheric emissions of non-

ferrous metals in India, 2000 – 2004

(Emission factors are based on Pirrone et al., 1996; Nriagu and

Pacyna, 1988)

Metal 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 EF Emission (t/yr)

g Hg/t (in tons)

Copper 0.256 0.293 0.385 0.391 0.401 15 3.84 – 6.0

Lead 0.057 0.074 0.064 0.078 0.042 3 0.17 – 0.125

Zinc 0.176 0.207 0.231 0.254 0.238 25 4.4 – 5.96

Note: All production values are in Mt (million metric tons)

Table 8. Mercury emissions (t/yr) from

cement plants in India, 2000 - 2004

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004

Emissions 0.005 0.0045 0.0045 0.005 0.005

Cement production: 0.10 – 0.11 Mt/yr;

Emission factor: 45.6 mg/ton of cement (in this study)

Solid waste generation in India

(Reproduced from Singhal & Pandey, 2001)

Table 9. Estimation of the essential parts of

MSW in India based on the study for Allahabad

city (After Sharholy et al. 2007)

Elements in MSW % of weight % of weight based on 21

mega cities*

Paper 3.6 5.7

Cardboard 1.09 -

Metal, tin cans 2.54 2.1

Glass 0.73 2.1

Food wastes 45.3 41.80

Textile rags 2.22 3,5

Plastic (Poly bag) 2.86 3.9

Mis. (bricks, ash

Rubber, wood etc) 41.66 41.1

Total 100 100

Moisture 25 %

* (CPCB, 1999); Note: mega city = Population > over millions

Table 10. Estimated medical waste generation in

selected Asian countries (Visvanathan, 2006)

Country Waste generation (kg/bed) Total waste (t/yr)

Bangladesh 0.8 – 1.67 93,075 (In Dhaka)

Bhutan 0.27 73

China - 730,000

India 1 – 2 330,000

Malaysia 1.9 -

Nepal 0.5 365

Pakistan 1.06 250,000

Sri Lanka 0.36 6,600 (in Colombo)

Thailand 0.68 -

Metro Manila- 17,155

Vietnam 2.27 (Hanoi) 60,000

Table 11. Mercury in waste (Mt) in

India

Waste type 2001 2002 2003 2004 EF, (g/t) Hg in waste t/yr)

MSW 50 50 60 70 1.0 50 – 70

Medical

Waste 0.33 - - 0.33 20 6.6

E-waste - 0.146 0.82

Source: (Visvanathan, 2006; Sarkar, 2007)

Table 12. Mercury emissions from

Indian brick industry

Material Total production Coal used Control tech. EF Emission

of brick in pieces Mt g/t t/yr

Brick 140 x 109 24 No 0.0214 7.49

Brick* 140 x 109 24 Yes 0.0085 2.98

Note: We have assumed that wt of a brick in India is 2.5 kg**. Based on this information, the total wt of bricks in this study = 140 x 109 pieces x 2.5 kg = 350 Mt of bricks; Hg in coal = 0.376 g/t

*We have shown that applying control technology, it is possible to control dusts and other metal emissions to the surrounding of the facility.

**Personal communication: TERI, New Delhi on 11.01.08

Table 13. Total Hg consumption in

instrument manufacturing industry (From

different sources)

Instruments Unit (in kg) Used/unit (in g)

Clinical thermometers 3,100 0.61

Lab thermometers 900 3.0

Blood pressure monitors12,000 60.0

Barometers 125 5

Total 16,125

Table 14. Mercury concentration

in fish and other species

Place Fish/ Hg (mg/kg) Max. mg/kg Ref.

SpeciesNorth Koel river Fish - 600 – 700 1

Mumbai, East Fish 0.03 – 0.082 1.6 2

Coast Bivalves 0.13 – 10.82 21.6

Maharashtra Gastropods 1.05 – 3.60 7.2

Sagar Island Crabs 1.42 – 4.94 9.9

East coast West Bivalves 0.06 – 2.24 4.5

Bengal

Binage, karwar Oyster 0.18 – 0.54 1.1 3

Karnataka

Ref: 1. Indian Biologist 23 (2) 1992: 58 – 60; 2. Chemosphere 33, 1996: 147 – 158;

3. Indian Journal of marine Science 27, June 1998: 201 – 205.

Table 15. mercury concentration (mg/kg

of different samples of the Ganges River

collected at Varanasi, India (Sinha et al.,

2007)

Season Fish Soil Vegetation

Winter 4.048 18.7 0.095 0.114 0.254 0.397

Summer 0.205 0.531 0.126 0.111 0.098 0.081

Post-

monsoon 4.369 16.10 0 0.245 0.127

Atmospheric Hg emissions from industrial sources in India (This

study)

Source 2000 2004 (tons)

Coal combustion 110.44 120.85

Iron & Steel 2.15 2.88

Non-ferous

-Copper 3.84 6.0

-Lead 0.17 0.125

-Zinc 4.4 5.96

Cement Industry 0.005 0.005

Wastes

-MSW 50 70

-Medical waste 6.6 6.6

E-waste - 0.82

Brick Industry - 7.49

Residue oil 0.52 0.47

Chlor-alkali plant 132 1.06

Total 310 222.26

Note: We have assumed that in 2000, average Hg emissions from Chlor-alkali plants were (185 + 79 = 264 t /2 = 132 t); In 2004, the data for 2006 has been used to estimate Hg emissions from Hg-cell plants. The best emission factor has been used 3.5 g Hg t-1 Cl2. This abnormal reduction of Hg emission in 2004 was due to conversion of Hg-cell process to Membrane-cell process.*Based on emission factor 0.065 g t-1 (Mukherjee et al. 2000)

WCC - Chlor-Alkali Industry

Number of plants and capacity of mercury electrolysis units

in USA/Canada, Europe, India and Brazil/Argentina

(+ 1 Uruguayan and 3 Russian plants from 2005 onwards)

70

75

80

85

90

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 Years

Number of

plants

7 000

7 400

7 800

8 200

8 600

9 000

Capacity of

plants (1000 t/y)

Chlor-alkali Industry in the past

Green dots represent Membraneprocess

Red represents Hg-cell

Blue represents

Hg + membrane process

Sources of Mercury in India

(Modified from Srivastava, 2003)

1. Conclusions

India is a vast country with a population of 1.027 billions of people; Surface area of the sub-continent is about 3.28 M km2.

In present study, Hg emissions vary between 310 to 222 t/yr.

There is a long history of chlorine production in India. Since 1940s, chlorine production started by Hg-cell method. Due to increased contamination of Hg in soils, plants and water, 86% of hg-cell process has been converted very recently into Membrane process which is Hg free. For this reason, total Hg emission in 2004 has been obtained at 222 tons.

Due to discharge of Hg, coastal waters, river waters, aquatic pieces and soils near the vicinity of plants have been contaminated. In the Ganges river near the holy city of varanasi, Hg in fish (Macrognathus pancalus) was reported at 0.11 – 91.70 mg/kg.

2. Conclusion

There are serious problem of MSW, hazardous waste and E-waste in the subcontinent, India. Between 2000 and 2004, 50 to 70 Mt of MSW were generated. Medical waste has been estimated at 0.33 Mt/yr and the EF was 20 g Hg/t of medical waste.

The E-waste has estimated at 380 kt in 2007 and the production will increase at 470 kt in 2011. There is also illegal import of E-waste to India as well as to China and Pakistan.

The Indian brick industry produce 140 billion of bricks and consume 24 Mt of coal. Uncontrolled emission of Hg has been estimated at 7.49 t/yr.

Future Direction

It is vital for Indian scientists to determine the sources of Hg and its emissions.

Often emission data in Asia have been underestimated, as a result of which large variations occurred in Hg cycle.

The diversity in Asian countries will effect on the bioaccumulation, biomagnification and the uptake of Hg.

Emission of Hg from brick manufacturing in Asia should be critically measured.

How Global Climate change may effect on Mercury Flux in India and other countries, and exposure risk to people..

Schemetic framework representing anthropogenic drives, impacts of and responses to climate

change, and their linkages.

Source: www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar4/syr/ar4_syr_introduction.pdf

Thank you for your attention