Abstract
The Pingshuo Mine is an important coal mine of the Ningwu coalfield in northern Shanxi Province, China. To investigate the mineralogy and geochemistry of Pingshuo coals, core samples from the mineable No. 4 coals were collected. The minerals, major element oxides, and trace elements were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), LTA-XRD in combination with Siroquant software, X-ray fluorescence (XRF), inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and ICP-CCT-MS (As and Se). The minerals in the Pennsylvanian coals from the Pingshuo Mine dominantly consist of kaolinite and boehmite, with minor amounts of siderite, anatase, goyazite, calcite, apatite and florencite. Major-element oxides including SiO2 (9.54 wt %), Al2O3 (9.68 wt %), and TiO2 (0.63 wt %), as well as trace elements including Hg (449.63 ng/g), Zr (285.95 μg/g), Cu (36.72 μg/g), Ga (18.47 μg/g), Se (5.99 μg/g), Cd (0.43 μg/g), Hf (7.14 μg/g), and Pb (40.63 μg/g) are enriched in the coal. Lithium and Hg present strong positive correlations with ash yield and SiO2, indicating an inorganic affinity. Elements Sr, Ba, Be, As and Ga have strong positive correlations with CaO and P2O5, indicating that most of these elements may be either associated with phosphates and carbonates or have an inorganic–organic affinity. Some of the Zr and Hf may occur in anatase due to their strong positive correlations with TiO2.
Highlights
Coal is the most abundant fossil fuel in China, and it is a reliable long-term fuel source forChina and other countries, including Turkey and South Africa
We reported the data on the mineralogy and elemental geochemistry of the No 4 Coal in the Pingshuo mine, Ningwu Coalfield, Shanxi Province, China
Ash yields of the Pingshuo No 4 coal range from 12.96% to 32.14%, with an average of 21.42%, indicating a medium ash coal according to Chinese National Standards (GB/T 15224.1-2004, which shows 10.01%–16.00% ash yield is for low-ash coal, 16.01%–29.00% ash yield for medium-ash coal, and >29.00% ash yield for high-ash coal) [23]
Summary
Coal is the most abundant fossil fuel in China, and it is a reliable long-term fuel source for. Studies on the geochemistry of elements in coals serve as the basis for the environmental impacts of coals and the efficient use of valuable elements. Many previous investigations have studied the geochemistry and mineralogy of coal deposits around the world, such as the Guanbanwusu and Haerwusu Surface Mines in the Junger Coalfield, northern China [4,5], the Donglin Coal Mine and Xinde Mine, southwestern of China [6,7], Yili Basin, northwestern China [8], the Mariza-east lignite deposit, Bulgaria [9], the Çan coals, Çanakkale, Turkey [10] and Gray Hawk. We reported the data on the mineralogy and elemental geochemistry of the No 4 Coal in the Pingshuo mine, Ningwu Coalfield, Shanxi Province, China
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