A technique for sequential leaching of coal and fly ash resulting in good recovery of trace elements

Coal and fly ash contain many elements. These elements exist in different forms which may change throughout the coal combustion process. There are several processes, including X-ray techniques and leaching techniques by which studies have attempted to assess the form of a particular element in a sample. This work focuses on determining the leachability of selected elements sequentially leached in four extraction solutions: water, 1 M ammonium acetate, 3 M hydrochloric acid and 50% hydrofluoric acid. The emphasis is on evaluating the steps involved in the leaching process with the mass recovery for each element being the basis for evaluation. The total amount of each element that will leach out under the given extraction condition is presented as a fraction of the total present in the material. The materials evaluated were NIST coal and fly ash standards. The elements measured in this study include aluminum, barium, beryllium, calcium, chromium, cobalt, iron, magnesium, manganese, nickel, potassium, sodium, strontium, vanadium and zinc.     

Green Synthesis of Magnetic Zeolite LTA using NaOH Activated Fly Ash

The magnetic zeolite LTA was successfully synthesized using NaOH activated fly ash. The properties of the magnetic zeolite LTA were characterized by XRD, FTIR, SEM, TEM, BET, and VSM. We can be concluded that the synthesized composite consists of zeolite LTA and magnetic Fe₃O₄ nanoparticle. The nitrogen adsorption technique confirmed that the magnetic zeolite LTA exhibits a specifific surface area of 10.0183 m² · g^–1, which is much larger than that of the fly ash. VSM result confirms that the magnetization saturation value of the magnetic zeolite LTA is 10.06 emu · g^–1. Therefore, the magnetic zeolite LTA could be easily separated from the liquid phase using a magnet.     

Effect of filler content on the stress relaxation behavior of fly ash/polyurea composites

In this study, fly ash/polyurea (FA/PU) composites of various fly ash volume fractions were fabricated. The time-domain stress relaxation behaviors of pure polyurea and the FA/PU composites were measured by dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) in tension mode at various temperatures. Both temperature and volume fraction of fly ash can affect the segmental motion of polyurea as well as the interaction between fly ash hollow spheres and polyurea matrix, which constitutes the intrinsic mechanism of stress relaxation. Master curves of relaxation modulus were constructed and compared for PU and FA/PU composites. A model was proposed to relate the relaxation modulus and volume fraction of fillers based on three-parameter fractional derivative model and Mori-Tanaka model. The numerical predictions obtained from the model are found to be in good agreement with the experimental results.     

Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy application for ash characterisation for a coal fired power plant

The aim of this work was to apply the LIBS technique for the analysis of fly ash and bottom ash resulting from the coal combustion in a coal fired power plant. The steps of presented LIBS analysis were pelletizing of powdered samples, firing with laser and spectroscopic detection. The analysis “on tape” was presented as an alternative fast sampling approach. This procedure was compared with the usual steps of normalized chemical analysis methods for coal which are coal calcination, fluxing in high temperature plasma, dilution in strong acids and analyzing by means of ICP-OES and/or AAS.     

Trace Determination of Germanium by Continuous Flow Hydride Generation Laser-Induced Fluorescence Spectrometry

A continuous flow hydride generation laser-induced fluorescence (HG-LIF) spectrometry technique has been investigated for performing trace determination of germanium (Ge). Hydride generation of Ge is performed using reagent concentrations of 2?M H₃PO₄ and 0.5% NaBH₄ and fluorescence detection is performed using tunable dye laser radiation at 253.323?nm for Ge excitation with fluorescence measured at 303.907?nm. The HG-LIF approach provides a linear response for Ge in the concentration range from 1.0 to 50?ng mL^?1 and a limit of detection of 0.1?ng mL^?1. Replicate measurements at 10?ng mL^?1 have a relative standard deviation of 0.1% (n?=?8). Measurements of Ge in different sample matrices have demonstrated the effectiveness of thiourea and ascorbic acid as masking agents that compensate for samples containing interfering ions. The determinations of the Ge content in reference water samples, fly ash samples, and supplement capsules demonstrate that the HG-LIF approach has feasibility for measuring Ge in different sample matrices at environmentally relevant concentrations.     

Sequential extraction partitioning of metals,sulfur, and phosphorus in bottom ash from a coal-fired power plant

Abstract

The herbicide trifluralin was analysed by adsorptive stripping voltammetry on a glassy carbon electrode. The linear concentration range was 2.5 × 10^?7 M – 1.25 × 10^?6M when using 5-min preconcentration at open circuit conditions in Britton-Robinson buffer of pH 7.0. The detection limit of trifluralin was 2.5 × 10^?8M. The relative standard deviation was 3.3% at a concentration of 1.0 × 10^?6M (n=5). The method was applied to the determination of trifluralin in soil with good recovery.     

Epsilon5高能偏振能量色散X-射线荧光光谱仪测定垃圾焚烧灰渣中有害元素

使用粉末样品压片制样,用Epsilon5高能偏振能量色散X射线荧光(EDXRF)光谱仪测定垃圾焚烧灰渣中S、Cl、Ba、Cr、Cu、Na、Mn、Pb、Zn、Cd、As、Mo等多种有害元素,采用土壤、水系沉积物、海底沉积物、矿物等国家标准物质和人工合成标样作为校准。     

The use of X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis in predicting the alkaline hydrothermal conversion of fly ash precipitates into zeolites

The use and application of synthetic zeolites for ion exchange, adsorption and catalysis has shown enormous potential in industry. In this study, X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis was used to determine Si and Al in fly ash (FA) precipitates. The Si and Al contents of the fly ash precipitates were used as indices for the alkaline hydrothermal conversion of the fly ash compounds into zeolites. Precipitates were collected by using a co-disposal reaction wherein fly ash is reacted with acid mine drainage (AMD). These co-disposal precipitates were then analysed by XRF spectrometry for quantitative determination of SiO₂ and Al₂O₃. The [SiO₂]/[Al₂O₃] ratio obtained in the precipitates range from 1.4 to 2.5. The [SiO₂]/[Al₂O₃] ratio was used to predict whether the fly ash precipitates could successfully be converted to faujasite zeolitic material by the synthetic method of [J. Haz. Mat. B 77 (2000) 123]. If the [SiO₂]/[Al₂O₃] ratio is higher than 1.5 in the fly ash precipitates, it favours the formation of faujasite. The zeolite synthesis included an alkaline hydrothermal conversion of the co-disposal precipitates, followed by aging for 8 h and crystallization at 100 °C. Different factors were investigated during the synthesis of zeolite to ascertain their influence on the end product. The factors included the amount of water in the starting material, composition of fly ash related starting material and the FA:NaOH ratio used for fusing the starting material. The mineralogical and physical analysis of the zeolitic material produced was performed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and nitrogen Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (N₂ BET) surface analysis. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to determine the morphology of the zeolites, while inductively coupled mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), Fourier transformed infrared spectrometry (FT-IR) and Cation exchange capacity (CEC) [Report to Water Research Commission, RSA (2003) 15] techniques were used for chemical characterisation. The heavy and trace metal concentrations of the zeolite products were compared to that of the post-synthesis filtrate and of the precipitate materials used as Si and Al feed stock for zeolite formation, in order to determine the trends (increase or decrease) and ultimate fate of any toxic metals incorporated in the co-disposed precipitated residues.     

Characterization and quantification of persistent organic pollutants in fly ash from coal fueled thermal power stations in India

The burning of pulverized coal to produce energy for generation of electricity in thermal power plants results in huge quantity of coal ash of varying properties. In India the coal based thermal power plants have been the major source of power generation in the past and would continue for decades to come. Because of the increase in electricity production, the amount of ash produced will increase proportionally. Very few studies on characterization of organic constituents in fly ash from Indian thermal power plants have been reported in the literature. In the present study, the fly ashes generated from five thermal power stations from different parts of India were investigated regarding the elaboration of distribution pattern of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) such as PAHs and PCBs in them. The PAHs in the fly ash samples were identified and quantified using high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC-UV) whereas the estimation of PCB congeners was carried out using gas chromatography (GC-ECD). Lower molecular weight (MW) PAHs, were found to be predominant in fly ash samples. The concentration of Benzo(a)Pyrene which is the most potent carcinogenic PAH, varied between 0.82 ng/g and 18.14 ng/g with a mean concentration of 9.02 ng/g. Among the PCB congeners, CB-77 is having higher toxicity value, the concentrations of which in the fly ash samples were in the range of 4.58 ng/g to 104.98 ng/g with a mean value of 62.53 ng/g.     

Supercritical fluid extraction of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins from municipal incinerator fly ash

The supercritical fluid extraction of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins from an incinerator fly ash sample has been investigated; supercritical nitrous oxide and its mixtures with methanol and toluene were employed as mobile phases. Recoveries of individual polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins congeners were calculated from results of analysis of ¹³C-labeled dioxins by high resolution GC-MS employing selected ion monitoring. The extraction procedure was compared with extraction in a Soxhlet apparatus, which is currently used as a standard method for removing chlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins from fly ash samples: the results indicated that the time required for the extraction and clean-up can be reduced from 24 to 2.5 hours/sample. Quantitative recovery of the chlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins was achieved at μg/kg levels, the relative standard deviation was between 1.8 and 5.8%. The use of a virtually inert fluid such as pure nitrous oxide provides significant improvement over conventional extraction procedures because no solvent residue is left in the processed extract.