Fractions and leaching characteristics of mercury in coal

A huge amount of coal is always stored in open spaces in coal-fired power plants before combustion. Mercury released from coal by rain or flowing water is an environmental risk and can cause contamination of the soil around the storage area. To better understand mercury pollution and to control mercury emission before combustion, it is necessary to determine the mobility and leaching characteristics of mercury from coal. In this study, we collected ten coal samples from one coal-fired power plant and proposed a sequential extraction procedure to get five fractions of mercury for evaluation. Elemental Hg was found as the most dominant fraction, and sulfate Hg was shown to be the second largest fraction. The mercury in the organic and the soluble fractions were not the major fractions, but they should still be considered because of their high mobility.