Potentially hazardous trace elements in Kentucky coals

Journal Article · Sun Dec 31 04:00:00 EST 1995 · Preprints of Papers, American Chemical Society, Division of Fuel Chemistry

OSTI ID:460107

Blanchard, L J; Robertson, J D; Srikantapura, S ^[1]

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1. Univ. of Kentucky, Lexington, KY (United States); and others

The minor and major trace elemental content of coal is of great interest because of the potentially hazardous impact on human health and the environment resulting from their release during coal combustion. Of the one billion tons of coal mined annually in the United States, 85-90% is consumed by coal-fired power plants. Potentially toxic elements present at concentrations as low as a few {mu}g/g can be released in large quantities from combustion of this magnitude. The 1990 Amendments to the Clean Air Act listed 12 elements found in coal as being potentially subject to control: Sb, As, Be, Cl, Cd, Co, Cr, Pb, Hg, Mn, Ni, and Se. In this study the partitioning of these and other elements during coal combustion and advanced cleaning processes has been investigated. Elemental concentrations were measured in the fractions obtained before and after combustion or cleaning using external beam particle induced X-ray emission (PIXE). PIXE is a rapid, instrumental technique that, in principle, is capable of analyzing all elements from sodium through uranium without chemical interference effects. In practice more than 20 elements are routinely determined with sensitivities as low as 1 {mu}g/g.

• OSTI ID: 460107
• Report Number(s): CONF-950801--
• Journal Information: Preprints of Papers, American Chemical Society, Division of Fuel Chemistry, Journal Name: Preprints of Papers, American Chemical Society, Division of Fuel Chemistry Journal Issue: 4 Vol. 40; ISSN 0569-3772; ISSN ACFPAI
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
CLEANING
COAL
COMBUSTION
EMISSION
HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
KENTUCKY
LEACHING
METALS
NITRIC ACID
SODIUM HYDROXIDES
TRACE AMOUNTS