Trace elements in coal by glow discharge mass spectrometry
Conference
·
OSTI ID:83293
- WAL Inc., Wheat Ridge, CO (United States); and others
A need and a demand exist for determining trace elements in coal and coal related by-products, especially those elements which may potentially be a health hazard. The provisions of the 1990 clean air act require that the EPA evaluate the emissions of electric utilities for trace elements and other potentially hazardous organic compounds. The coal fired electric utility industry supplies roughly 60% of the total generating capacity of 2,882,525 million kilowatt hours (nearly 3 trillion kilowatt hours) generated in the U.S. This is accomplished by 414 power plants scattered across the country that burned 813,508,000 short tons of coal in 1993. The relative volatility of some inorganic constituents in coal makes them more prone to be emitted to the atmosphere following combustion. The production of analytical data for trace elements is known to be a difficult task in coal and by-products of coal combustion (fly ash, bottom ash, gas streams, etc.), in terms of both sample collection and analytical determinations. There are several common analytical methods available to the analyst to determine trace elements in coal and coal by-products. In general analytical germs, the material to be analyzed can be totally solubilized (or extracted), or the elements analytes can be determined in the material as a solid. A relatively new elemental technique, Glow Discharge Mass Spectrometry (GDMS) can be used with solids as well. This new analytical technique had never before been applied directly to coal. The radio frequency-glow discharge quadropole mass spectrometer was used to analyze coal directly for the first time ever by rf-GDMS. The rf-GDMS technique is described.
- OSTI ID:
- 83293
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9505231--
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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