Pathways of thirty-seven trace elements through coal-fired power plant

TLDR: In this paper, coal, fly ash, slag, and combustion gases from a large cyclone-fed power plant 870 MW (e) were analyzed for a suite of elements.

Abstract: Coal, fly ash, slag, and combustion gases from a large cyclone-fed power plant 870 MW(e) were analyzed for a suite of elements. Mass balance calculations show that the sampling and analyses were generally adequate to describe the flows of these elements through the plant. Most Hg, some Se, and probably most Cl and Br were discharged to the atmosphere as gases. As, Cd, Cu, Ga, Mo, Pb, Sb, Se, and Zn were quite concentrated in fly ash compared to the slag, and were more concentrated in the ash discharged through the stack than in that collected by the precipitator. Al, Ba, Ca, Ce, Co, Eu, Fe, Hf, K, La, Mg, Mn, Rb, Sc, Si, Sm, Sr, Ta, Th, and Ti show little preferential partitioning between the slag and the collected or discharged fly ash. Cr, Sc, Na, Ni, U, and V exhibit behavior intermediate between the latter two groups. (auth)