No.4（2001）24.Development of mercury removal cleaning equipment for waste fluorescent lamps

Hiroshi MASUMOTO, Akiyoshi NAGAI, Kinya HASHIMOTO, Yukio KOSAKA, Hiroaki ISE, Koukichi KATOU, Masaru KIZAKI and Kiminori FURUKAWA

This report describes mercury removal cleaning equipment for waste fluorescent lamps. So far, as a wet-type mercury removal method, the chemical disposal method using chelate resin is adopted. The proposed mercury removal cleaning equipment removes mercury from waste fluorescent lamps by filtration and multiple step cleaning in which ultrasonic cleaning is used. This equipment can get rid of the remaining mercury in waste fluorescent lamps to 0.02 μg/g in a short time. The mercury concentration of the second step and the third-step cleaning water is less than the drainage exclusion standard of mercury by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. Moreover high concentration drainage decreases. Though about 0.05μg/g was attained after 10 minutes of cleaning in the last report, at this time, about 0.02μg/g is attained. Mercury removal by this method is low-priced and effective so as to promote recycling of fluorescent lamps glass. This method is excellent as a method of getting rid of mercury from waste fluorescent lamps.

Keywords
Removal, Mercury, Waste fluorescent lamps, Ultrasonic cleaning

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