Mercury Removal Market - Forecast(2023 - 2028)

Mercury Removal Market Overview

The Mercury Removal Market size is estimated to reach US$1.9 billion by 2027 after growing at a CAGR of around 2.7% from 2022 to 2027. Mercury Removal refers to the process of removing mercury from various hydrocarbon. The process is conducted by using either regenerative or non-regenerative adsorbents which consists of different filters like activated carbon, resin, chlorine and inorganic chemical like sodium carbonate. Mercury Removal process is majorly used in chemical sector for removing mercury during wastewater treatment and in oil & gas sector during processing of crude oil and natural gas. Factors like increase in crude oil production, high demand for LNG gas and growing chemical production volume are driving global Mercury Removal Market growth. However, the high capital cost of adsorption process can limit its usage for Mercury Removal, which can hamper the growth of Mercury Removal industry.

COVID-19 Impact

The lockdown implemented globally to prevent widespread of COVID-19, disrupted the activities of major end users of Mercury Removal such as oil & gas sector. Hence, problems like lack of availability of labor and trade restrictions led to decrease in productivity of oil & gas sector. For instance, according to International Energy Administration, in 2020, total OECD annual production of crude oil, natural gas liquids (NGL), and refinery feedstocks decreased by 3.4% compared to 2019. Mercury Removal adsorbents containing filters like active carbon is majorly used during crude oil and natural gas downstream processing for removing wide range of mercury concentrations so as to protect downstream equipment from corrosion. The decrease in production of crude oil & natural gas reduced their downstream processing volume. This resulted a decrease in usage of Mercury Removal adsorbents in downstream processing for removing mercury. This negatively impact Mercury Removal industry growth.

Report Coverage

The “Mercury Removal Market Report – Forecast (2022 – 2027)”, by IndustryARC, covers an in-depth analysis of the following segments of the Mercury Removal industry.

By Adsorbents – Regenerative, and Non-Regenerative
By Process – Chemical Precipitation, Adsorption, Membrane Separation, and Biological Treatment
By Type – Activated Carbon, Sodium Carbonate, Resins, Chlorine, and Others
By Application – Gas Processing, Refining & Petrochemicals, Water & Wastewater Treatment, and Others
By End Use Industry - Oil & Gas Industry, Chemicals, and Others
By Geography - North America (USA, Canada, Mexico), Europe (UK, Germany, France, Italy, Netherland, Spain, Russia, Belgium, Rest of Europe), Asia-Pacific (China, India, Japan, South Korea, Australia, and New Zealand, Indonesia, Taiwan, Malaysia, Rest of APAC), South America (Brazil, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Rest of South America), Rest of the World (Middle East, Africa)

Key Takeaways

• North America dominates the Mercury Removal industry as the region consists of major end user of Mercury Removal adsorbents in countries like US which is the leading producer of oil and natural gas.
• Granular activated carbon is majorly used in water treatment process as it is a heavy charcoal material which absorbs dissolved contaminants when water is passed through activated carbon.
• The growing demand for specialty chemicals from sectors like food and personal care will increase its production level resulting in more usage of Mercury Removal adsorbent for removing mercury from wastewater produced during specialty chemicals production.

Mercury Removal Market Segment Analysis – By Type

Activated carbon held a significant share in Mercury Removal Market in 2021 with a share of over 37%. Activated carbon is very effective in removal of mercury as it has high adsorption potential. Hence, due to such high potential, it is widely used for removing mercury during oil & gas downstream processing and wastewater treatment in chemicals sector. The rapid development in chemicals and oil & gas sector has increased their productivity which has positively impacted the usage of Mercury Removal adsorbents. For instance, according to World Energy & Climate Statistics, in 2020, gas production increased in the Middle East by 1.2%, in Australia by 7.9% and China by 9.8%. Further, according to European Chemical Industry Council, in first half of 2021, chemical output increased by 12.9% in EU countries. Hence, such increase in productivity of chemicals and oil & gas sector will lead to more usage of activated carbon filters for removing mercury. This will positively impact the growth of Mercury Removal industry.

Mercury Removal Market Segment Analysis – By End Use Industry

Oil & gas sector held a significant share in Mercury Removal Market in 2021 with a share of over 47%. Removing mercury from oil and natural gas is an important step during down streaming process as it prevents the corrosion of down streaming equipment and poisoning of catalyst. The increase in production of oil & natural gas on account of growing demand from major end use countries, has positively impacted the usage of Mercury Removal adsorbents. For instance, according to US Energy Information Administration, in December 2019, crude oil production in US was 12,910 barrels per day compared to 11,924 barrels in 2018, showing 8% increase. Also, in January 2020, US natural gas production was 116,025 million cubic feet per day compared to 108,927 million cubic feet per day produced in 2019 same month, showing 6.5% increase. Such increase in crude oil and natural gas production will lead to more usage of Mercury Removal adsorbents having activated carbon or resin filters during crude oil & natural gas processing. This will positively impact the growth of Mercury Removal industry.

Mercury Removal Market Segment Analysis – By Geography

North America held the largest share in Mercury Removal Market in 2021 with a share of over 36%. The region consists of major economies like US and Canada which are major producers of natural gas and also have well established chemicals plants. The economic development in these nations has increased the industrial productivity. For instance, according to US Energy Information Administration, in December 2021, dry natural gas production was 3,012 billion cubic feet or 97.2 billion cubic feet per day, which was 5.4% higher than December 2020. Further, according to Chemistry Industry Association of Canada, in 2021, sales of industrial chemicals grew by 31% in comparison to 2020. Mercury is removed from natural gases to prevent damaging of downstream equipment, while in chemical plants, mercury adsorbent is used to remove mercury from wastewater and to make it reusable. The increase in natural gas production and chemicals consumption will increase the usage of Mercury Removal in oil & gas and chemicals sector. This will boost Mercury Removal industry growth.

Mercury Removal Market Drivers

Increase in Crude Oil Production

Mercury is present in crude oil in both, as organic and inorganic compound and due to its high toxicity, removing mercury is an important step in crude oil processing. Hence, Mercury Removal from crude oil prevents the catastrophic failure in cryogenic equipment’s and poisoning of process catalyst. Growing economies has increased their demand for fuel energy like petroleum, resulting an increase in crude oil production. For instance, according to US Energy Information Administration, in March 2020, crude oil production was 12,816 barrels per day compared to 11,899 barrels in 2019 showing 7% increase. Such increase in crude oil production will lead to more usage of Mercury Removal adsorbents having activated carbon or chlorine filters for removing mercury elements from crude oil which will prevent corrosion of downstream equipment’s. This will boost the growth of Mercury Removal industry.

Increase in Chemicals Production Volume

Industrial Chemicals such as specialty chemicals are used in various end use industries like food, personal care and home care. Hence, the growing demand from such end users has increased the production level of chemicals. For instance, according American Chemistry Council, in 2021, US production volume of specialty chemicals increased by 2.6% compared to -15% in 2020, while basic chemical output increased by 1.8% compared to 0.5% in 2020. Growing production level of chemicals will result in more formation of wastewater, which will increase usage of Mercury Removal adsorbents in chemical sector. This will boost the growth of Mercury Removal industry.

Mercury Removal Market Challenge

High Cost of Adsorption Process

Filters like activated carbon is very expensive in nature due to its high cost of production. Hence, when such filters are used in adsorption process it makes the overall process expensive too. Moreover, there is high stream equipment’s requirement to desorb high-molecular weight pollutants during wastewater treatment. Adsorption is major process for Mercury Removal but high cost and high equipment requirement will limit the usage of adsorption process for Mercury Removal. This can have negative impact on the growth of Mercury Removal industry.

Mercury Removal Industry Outlook

The companies to develop a strong regional presence and strengthen their market position, continuously engage in mergers and acquisitions. In the Mercury Removal Market report, the Mercury Removal top 10 companies are:

1. Pall Corporation
2. Johnson Matthey
3. Calgon Carbon Corporation
4. Nucon International
5. BASF
6. Axens
7. Nanjing Zhenggao
8. Cabot Corporation
9. Nucon
10. Universal Oil Products

Recent Developments

• In 2021, Kinder Morgan Inc. acquired Kinetrex Energy for US$310 million and such acquisition includes two small-scale, domestic LNG production and fuelling facilities, a 50% interest in a landfill-based renewable natural gas (RNG) facility in Indiana.
• In 2021, Platinum Equity signed a definitive agreement to acquire Solenis, a leading global producer of specialty chemicals used in water-intensive industries, from Clayton, Dubilier & Rice ("CD&R") and BASF.
• In 2020, Chevron acquired Nobel Energy an independent oil & natural gas production company which has large natural gas business built in Eastern Mediterranean, and such acquisition will increase Chevron natural gas production capacity. 

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