The impact of the coexistence of SO 2 and NO in flue gas on Hg 0 removal over HNO 3 -modified activated carbon (HNO 3 -AC) was evaluated. In addition, the effect of adding HCl on Hg 0 removal was also investigated. Hg 0 removal strongly depends upon the composition of the acidic gas. The results indicated that physically adsorbed SO 2 inhibited Hg 0 removal because of competitive adsorption, while chemically adsorbed SO 2 slightly promoted Hg 0 removal by generating HgSO 4 . The formation of N-containing active species, such as NO 2 , facilitates the removal of Hg 0 in the presence of NO to primarily produce Hg(NO 3 ) 2 or HgO. In comparison to the study performed under NO, SO 2 suppressed Hg 0 removal by weakening the amount of active NO 2 species that were generated over the samples. The presence of HCl strongly affected Hg 0 removal, and HgCl 2 and Hg 2 Cl 2 were produced in all of the flue gases containing HCl. In addition, the binding abilities between mercury and the different groups that formed on the samples follow the order: Cl-> S-> N-containing groups.