Comparative Analysis of Methods for Determination of Arsenic in Coal and Coal Ash

Abstract

In this paper the comparative analysis of different methods for the preparation and analysis of arsenic content in coal and coal ash have been presented. The suggested method is coal digestion method, i.e., coal ash digestion using the mixture of acids: nitric and sulphuric in presence of vanadium-pentoxide as catalyzer. The comparative analysis of different recording techniques (AAS-GH, AAS-GF and ICP-AES) has also been presented. For arsenic recording the suggested technique is AAS-GF technique. The obtained results show that the method of high precision, high sensitivity and high reproductivity has been obtained.

Keywords:

• Arsenic
• Coal
• Coal ash
• Comparative analysis

Notes

Note: the sign – means that method was not used

Note: The sign – means that method was not used

The sample number #3) represents referent material – coal ash, BCR #38 with known arsenic content: 48.0 mg/kg.

The sample number #4) represents ash of coal sample, which represents internal standard of average arsenic content of 30 mg/kg.

Coal sample has been burnt and coal ash obtained using standard procedure; coal ash contains 100 mg/kg of arsenic. The result of arsenic content in coal ash in internal standard has been obtained from 10 measurements in three different laboratories.