Deashing and desulfurization of subbituminous coal from the East field (Bogovina Basin, Serbia) - insights from chemical leaching
The study is focused to determine the most effective chemical leaching process for simultaneous demineralization/deashing and desulfurization of subbituminous coal from the Bogovina Basin. Coal was treated for 30 minutes, at different temperatures, using variable concentrations of hydro-chloric, nitric, acetic and citric acids; hydrogen peroxide, mixture of hydrogen peroxide and nitric acid (pH 2), as well as by the stepwise leaching process (nitric acid + mixture of hydrogen peroxide and nitric acid, pH 2). The changes in mineral composition, caused by chemical leaching, are followed using X-ray diffraction, whereas alterations of coal organic matter are tracked by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy and content of fixed carbon. Inorganic acid leaching, regardless of temperature and acid concentration, enabled successful deashing of coal, whereas percent of desulfurization was insufficient. Organic acid leaching was not satisfactory for both, deashing and desulfurization. Leaching by H2O2 and H2O2/HNO3 mixture (pH 2) resulted in moderate desulfurization, but ash reduction was low. The most suitable method for simultaneous effective ash (78 wt.%) and sulfur (66 wt.%) removal from Bogovina coal is the two-step leaching, combining 10 vol.% HNO3 and mixture of 35 vol.% H2O2/10 vol.% HNO3 of pH 2 at 60?C.