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, 1M ammonium acetate, 3M 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.