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Leaching of trace elements from Pittsburgh coal mill rejects compared with coal combustion products from a coal-fired power plant in Ohio, USA

International Journal of Coal Geology
By:  and 
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.coal.2017.01.002

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Abstract

We investigated the leachability of elements from mill rejects from the high-sulfur, bituminous Upper Pennsylvanian Pittsburgh coal, using the synthetic groundwater leaching procedure (SGLP), long-term leaching (LTL), and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP), and compared their leaching behavior with that of three coal combustion products (CCPs)—bottom ash, economizer fly ash, and fly ash—from the same coal. None of the environmentally hazardous Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 (RCRA) metals analyzed in the leachates from the mill rejects or the CCPs exceeded U.S. EPA toxicity characteristics (As, Ba, Cd, Cr, Hg, Pb, and Se). Most trace elements leached the least from mill rejects and bottom ash and leached the most from fly ash. The elements Ca, Co, Mg, Mn, and Sr, however, were more concentrated in mill reject leachates than CCP leachates. Most trace elements increased in concentration with increasing SGLP and LTL leaching duration, but As and V decreased in concentration with time in mill reject leachates, suggesting sorption or precipitation of these elements was occurring.

Publication type Article
Publication Subtype Journal Article
Title Leaching of trace elements from Pittsburgh coal mill rejects compared with coal combustion products from a coal-fired power plant in Ohio, USA
Series title International Journal of Coal Geology
DOI 10.1016/j.coal.2017.01.002
Volume 171
Year Published 2017
Language English
Publisher Elsevier
Contributing office(s) Eastern Energy Resources Science Center
Description 12 p.
First page 130
Last page 141
Country United States
State Ohio
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