The influence of desulfurization on polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) from sintering plants was investigated. The concentrations of dioxin-like (dl) PCBs, toxic equivalents (TEQs), indicator PCBs, and total tri- to deca-chlorinated PCB homolog groups (∑PCBs) in the flue gases at the desulfurization system inlets were 290-1906 pg m(-3) (2.4-18.8 pg World Health Organization (WHO) TEQ m(-3)), 420-2885 pg m(-3), and 6496-22,648 pg m(-3), respectively. Desulfurization reduced the values to 43.3-500 pg m(-3) (0.46-9.5 pg WHO-TEQ m(-3)), 183-587 pg m(-3), and 2383-11,639 pg m(-3), respectively. The removed PCBs were adsorbed by gypsum from the flue gas; the PCB concentration distributions at the inlets and outlets and in the gypsum samples were similar. The emission factors were 9.86 ng WHO-TEQ t(-1) for the flue gas and 8.37 ng WHO-TEQ t(-1) for gypsum. Desulfurization decreased the annual atmospheric PCB emissions from 48.6 to 30.7 g WHO-TEQ, and the estimated annual emissions in gypsum were 8.06 g WHO-TEQ. PCBs in the gypsum have not been effectively eliminated and will probably reenter the environment and in turn become a new source of PCB emission. The PCB concentrations in fly ashes from series-connected electrostatic precipitators clearly increased.
Keywords: Desulfurization; Emission factor; Fly ash; Gypsum; Polychlorinated biphenyls; Removal.