Abstract
Mercury in coals is one of the important sources of atmospheric mercury, which is potentially harmful to the ecological environment. Based on the data of 970 coal samples, the concentration, spatial distribution and occurrence of mercury in Chinese coals were analyzed. The main conclusions are as follows: The distribution of mercury concentration in Chinese coalfields is uneven; medium and high mercury coals are mainly distributed in southwest China and eastern Inner Mongolia. The mercury concentrations in various coal-forming periods are as follows: K (0.320 mg/kg) > P2 (0.220 mg/kg) > C3 (0.179 mg/kg) > J (0.177 mg/kg) > D (0.165 mg/kg) > P1 (0.136 mg/kg) > C1 (0.090 mg/kg) > E (0.086 mg/kg) > T3 (0.066 mg/kg). The mercury concentrations in different coal ranks are as follows: Lignite (0.164 mg/kg), long flame coal (0.078 mg/kg), non-caking coal (0.256 mg/kg), weakly caking coal (0.086 mg/kg), gas coal (0.151 mg/kg), fat coal (0.122 mg/kg), coking coal (0.171 mg/kg), lean coal (0.393 mg/kg), meagre coal (0.161 mg/kg), anthracite (0.160 mg/kg). Sulfide bound state is the main form of mercury in coals, and pyrite is the main occurrence medium.
Highlights
Mercury is a highly toxic and volatile heavy metal, which is widely present in terrestrial, atmospheric, freshwater and marine ecosystems [1,2]
The data of 970 coal samples were used in this paper, which obtained from the Trace Elements in Coal of China (TECC) database [19]
There is no significant correlation between mercury content in coals and organic sulfur and sulfate sulfur
Summary
Mercury is a highly toxic and volatile heavy metal, which is widely present in terrestrial, atmospheric, freshwater and marine ecosystems [1,2]. China is the largest mercury emitter, accounted for more than 20% of global anthropogenic mercury emissions [5]. Coal combustion is one of the important anthropogenic mercury sources. In China, approximately 400 tons of mercury were emitted annually due to coal burning, accounting for nearly half of anthropogenic atmospheric mercury emissions [6,7,8,9]. The concentration, distribution and occurrence of mercury in coals have attracted the attention of many scholars. There are relatively few studies on the distribution of mercury in coals based on the national scale. The concentration and spatial distribution of mercury in Chinese coals were analyzed, and the occurrence mode was discussed
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