The Mercury Control in Coal Combustion Systems Short Course held at the Billings Hotel and Convention Center in Billings, Montana, on March 1-2, 2006, was a 2-day course designed to assist coal-fired utility industry personnel in understanding and managing mercury measurement and control problems.

Funding for the course was provided by the U.S. Department of Energy, PPL Montana, Puget Sound Energy, Portland General Electric, Pacificorp, Avista, Northwestern Energy, and the Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC).

Topics
The short course provided an overview of recent advancements of research on mercury speciation, measurement, and emission control technologies. The course also provided information on:

•	Current experience with mercury emission control and measurement.
•	Sorbent options, oxidation additives, and sorbent enhancement based on bench-, pilot-, and full-scale testing of mercury control options.
•	Computer models for predicting mercury speciation and control.

Short Course Demographics
The Billings short course attracted 66 participants from 31 organizations and nine states. Attendees represented the following job functions:

	Chemists	3%
	Executive Staff	10.5%
	Plant Engineers	10.5%
	Plant Managers	5%
	Regulatory Professionals	15%
	Related Industry	3%
	Research	6%
	Utility Personnel	32%
	Other	15%