{"id":5936,"date":"2015-11-19T08:01:02","date_gmt":"2015-11-19T13:01:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.acceleratingscience.com\/?p=5936"},"modified":"2026-01-13T16:35:39","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T16:35:39","slug":"can-xrf-quantify-trace-elements-in-coal-applications","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thermofisher.com\/blog\/mining\/can-xrf-quantify-trace-elements-in-coal-applications\/","title":{"rendered":"Can XRF Quantify Trace Elements in Coal Applications?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/admin.acceleratingscience.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/coalpile.jpg\" style=\"float: right;border: 0;margin: 10px\" alt=\"coal pile\" title=\"coal pile\" width=\"300\" height=\"462\" \/>Coal is a naturally-occurring combustible solid. Since its introduction about 4,000 years ago, coal has been used as a fuel for heating, cooking, and, in the modern age, for generating electricity. Coal is also an important source of raw materials for manufacturing. The destructive distillation (carbonization) of coal produces hydrocarbon gases and coal tar, from which chemists have synthesized drugs, dyes, plastics, solvents, and numerous other organic chemicals..<\/p>\n<p><span>Recoverable coal reserves contain more than twice the energy-producing potential of the Middle East&#8217;s proven oil reserves. The United States holds the world&#8217;s largest coal reserves. The US coal reserves are comprising more than one quarter of the total proven coal reserves in the world. About 100 countries have recoverable reserves of coal; Canada, China, Russia, Poland, Australia, Great Britain, South Africa, Germany, India, Brazil, and Colombia have the largest reserves.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 18pt\">Coalification<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Coal began forming more than 200 million years ago during the Carboniferous Period, when decaying plant material sank into the ground and was transformed by high temperature and pressure into peat and then coal. The degree of such change is called coalification. According to the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.worldcoal.org\/coal\/what-is-coal\/\">World Coal Association<\/a>, coalification influences coal&#8217;s physical and chemical properties and is referred to as the &#8216;rank&#8217; of the coal. The four ranks of coal, from the least to the most carbon content, are lignite, sub-bituminous, bituminous and anthracite. The quality of each coal deposit is determined by:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Varying types of vegetation from which the coal originated<\/li>\n<li>Depths of burial<\/li>\n<li>Temperatures and pressures at those depths<\/li>\n<li>Length of time the coal has been forming in the deposit<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 18pt\">Trace Elements<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Coal, similar to any other geological material, can contain trace elements such as antimony, arsenic, beryllium, cadmium, chromium, cobalt, copper, lead, manganese, molybdenum, nickel, vanadium, and zinc. Some of these trace elements are considered hazardous air pollutants. Coal ash retains these trace elements; following coal combustion, some trace elements become concentrated in certain particle streams, for example, bottom ash, fly ash, and flue gas particulate matter.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 18pt\">Ash Properties<\/span><\/p>\n<p>During the coal burning process, waste products are produced which are known as Coal Combustion Products (CCPs) or Coal Combustion Residuals (CCR). CCPs include&nbsp;fly ash, bottom ash, boiler slag, synthetic gypsum, and other power plant by-products. Ash can form fused deposits (slag) on surfaces exposed to high temperature. It can also bind to lower temperature surfaces (foul). Before starting boiler design, it is very important to analyze coal ash to evaluate its slagging and fouling potential.&nbsp; Ash composition and coal quality varies depending on the location and rank of coal.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 18pt\">Application of Portable XRF in Coal Mining<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thermoscientific.com\/en\/products\/x-ray-fluorescence-xrf.html\">Portable X-ray Fluorescence (PXRF) instruments<\/a> can analyze coal in a manner similar to any other geological sample. PFRX offers low limits of detection (LOD) of some elements, which makes it suitable for coal applications. For example, As, Pb, and possibly S in some coal seams can be quantified by PXRF. Hg and Se in coal are lower than their LOD by PXRF. PXRF applications in coal mining include the quantification of major elements and using this data to calculate ash content of coal.<\/p>\n<p>PXRF is just one of many technologies enabling greater efficiencies in all types of mining operations. Check out these resources to learn about the latest <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thermoscientific.com\/en\/about-us\/promotions\/comprehensive-mining-industry-solutions.html\">mining industry solutions.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Coal is a naturally-occurring combustible solid. Since its introduction about 4,000 years ago, coal has been used as a fuel for heating, cooking, and, in the modern age, for generating electricity. Coal is also an important source of raw materials for manufacturing. The destructive distillation (carbonization) of coal produces hydrocarbon gases and coal tar, from<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":55,"featured_media":9243,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,11],"tags":[],"division":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-5936","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-coal","8":"category-portable-xrf","9":"entry"},"_selected_authors":[1047],"_selected_reviewers":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.8 (Yoast SEO v27.8) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Can XRF Quantify Trace Elements in Coal Applications?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Portable X-ray Fluorescence (PXRF) instruments can analyze coal in a manner similar to any other geological sample. 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The chemical characteristics of coal directly influence power plant efficiency, emissions performance, maintenance requirements, and overall operating costs. As utilities continue to focus on fuel optimization and regulatory compliance, understanding coal chemistry has become essential for suppliers\u00a0seeking\u00a0to deliver value\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Coal&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Coal","link":"https:\/\/admin.acceleratingscience.com\/mining\/coal\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Stone coal lump in scientist hand","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/admin.acceleratingscience.com\/mining\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/07\/iStock-1371922462_coallab.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/admin.acceleratingscience.com\/mining\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/07\/iStock-1371922462_coallab.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/admin.acceleratingscience.com\/mining\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/07\/iStock-1371922462_coallab.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/admin.acceleratingscience.com\/mining\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/07\/iStock-1371922462_coallab.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/admin.acceleratingscience.com\/mining\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/07\/iStock-1371922462_coallab.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/admin.acceleratingscience.com\/mining\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/07\/iStock-1371922462_coallab.jpg?resize=1400%2C800&ssl=1 4x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1624,"url":"https:\/\/www.thermofisher.com\/blog\/mining\/a-halloween-treat-free-periodic-table\/","url_meta":{"origin":5936,"position":1},"title":"A Halloween Treat &#8211; Free Periodic Table","author":"Marlene Gasdia-Cochrane","date":"October 30, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"No tricks here. Download this handy periodic table and X-ray energy reference guide to help in analyzing your mining samples. \u00a0It's our treat. Then visit our Mining and Minerals, Cement Production, and Coal Power pages for more goodies. Download Periodic Table.\u00a0 \u00a0","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Elemental\/Geochemical Analysis&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Elemental\/Geochemical Analysis","link":"https:\/\/admin.acceleratingscience.com\/mining\/elemental-geochemical-analysis\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"halloween scene with plastic pumpkin and candy","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/admin.acceleratingscience.com\/mining\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/10\/No-Tricks-.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/admin.acceleratingscience.com\/mining\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/10\/No-Tricks-.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/admin.acceleratingscience.com\/mining\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/10\/No-Tricks-.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/admin.acceleratingscience.com\/mining\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/10\/No-Tricks-.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/admin.acceleratingscience.com\/mining\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2025\/10\/No-Tricks-.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":13544,"url":"https:\/\/www.thermofisher.com\/blog\/mining\/did-you-read-these-mining-and-minerals-articles-yet\/","url_meta":{"origin":5936,"position":2},"title":"Did You Read These Mining and Minerals Articles Yet?","author":"Marlene Gasdia-Cochrane","date":"December 16, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"According to Google, here are the Top 10 read articles this year from Advancing Mining. Some have been around for quite awhile, but are still as relevant as ever. If you missed any of the latest articles, just click\u00a0here\u00a0to see the most recently published articles. You can even filter by\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;General\/Industry&quot;","block_context":{"text":"General\/Industry","link":"https:\/\/admin.acceleratingscience.com\/mining\/general-industry-mining\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Top 10, words, isolated on a dark blue background. Alphabet on stone blocks.Rating. Rating concept. 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