ANALYSIS OF HEAVY METAL(LOID)S IN COAL FLY ASH LEACHATE BY INDUCTIVELY COUPLED PLASMA OPTICAL EMISSION SPECTROMETRY

Abstract

Fly ash is a by-product of coal combustion in thermal power plants. Heavy metal(loid)s (HMs) are the most recognized among the many dangerous compounds in fly ash. These substances may contaminate the environment and can pose a threat to human health. Various analytical techniques are used to analyze HMs in leachate. To investigate the possibility of contamination of the environment, heavy metals and metalloids (Pb, Zn, Mn, Fe, As, Ba, Be, Cu, Cr, Co, Cd, Sb, Se, and V) were leached from fly ash using a toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP). The fly ash samples used in this work were obtained from four thermal power plants (Kostolac, Kolubara, Tent B, and Morava). Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP-OES) technique was used to determine the concentration of these elements in the leachate. Accurate elemental analysis was achieved with this technique. Among all analyzed metal(loid)s, Fe, Mn, Zn, and As were the most abundant.