Spectrographic Determination of Sodium and Potassium in Coal Ashes

Abstract

HI.: authors' company is investigating the untlerlying c:iuses T of fireside deposit formation in high-duty boiler units, and emphasis has been placed on these causes as they are related to coal and coal ash rhemist,ry. The most promising approach toward reducing the time required for the many necessary analyws Ltppeared to be through t,he development of quantitative sprctrographic nic.thods for determining sodium and potassium, the constituent,< \rliic.h apparently are a cause of the deposit difficulties. Flame, photometric methods for det,ermining thr a1lc:tli met:tlr have bern populitr. but have the disadvantage of requiring a prior dissolution of the sample. Helz ( 7 ) and Helz anti Scrihnrr ( 8 ) have described methods for determining the alk:ili grouy) elemc,nts in portlarid cement using both silver and cohtlt :is irit,ernal rt:tndarcts. Other workerst in malyzing cracking catalysts (4) :xiid c~t l~ ( 9 ) , h:tvc, relied upon rxternal standards for qu:trit i t.:ttivr c:dil)r:itions This l ) : t p (~ describes a spectrographic method of determining sodium ;inti potmsium in coal ashes over a range of 0.3 to 5.0%. EXPERIMENTAL

Spectroscopic Determination of Arsenic in Anthracite Coal Ashes

“…Analysis No. 1 emulsion offered a suitable medium for ease of development and sensitivity. Sample particle size was important in regard to burning characteristics; samples having large particle size exhibited uneven burning qualities, while small particle-sized samples created sample volume problems.…”

“…IN recent years the emission spectrograph has been utilized by several investigators for the analysis of coals and their ashes (1,5,(9)(10)(11)18,14,(16)(17)(18). Much of the work published has made use of the total energy method as proposed by Slavin (20), and utilized by Headlee (9) and Lovell (14)• This method, although advantageous because of its ease of development and versatility, is not as reliable as the internal standard method.…”

“…Much of the work published has made use of the total energy method as proposed by Slavin (20), and utilized by Headlee (9) and Lovell (14)• This method, although advantageous because of its ease of development and versatility, is not as reliable as the internal standard method. The internal standard method has been utilized by Anderson and Beatty (1) for the determination of sodium and potassium in coal ashes. Lithium and rubidium were used as the internal standard elements.…”

Solid and Gaseous Fuels. Industrial Applications of Analysis, Control, and Instrumentation

“…Anderson and Beatty (6) developed a spectrographic method for determining sodium and potassium that is applicable to the analysis of coal ashes, tapped slag, fly ash, and tube deposits.…”