Relative Solubility of Cations in Class F Fly Ash

Coal utilization byproducts (CUB), such as fly ash, contain cations that may be released during exposure to fluids such as acid rain or acid mine drainage. Researchers at the Department of Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory (DOE/NETL) have conducted a long-term column leaching study of 32 Class F fly ash samples from pulverized coal (PC) combustion, and quantified the release of 19 cations in four leachants with a pH between 1.2 and 12. The relative solubility(M L/T) of each cation was defined as the total mass leached (M L) relative to the concentration (M T) of that element in the fly ash sample. A frequency distribution of relative solubility values was computed with ranges defined as insoluble, slightly soluble, moderately soluble, and very soluble. On the basis of this sample set, Ba, Cd, Fe, Pb, Sb, and Se in PC fly ash are insoluble. The elements Al, Be, Ca, Co, Cr, Cu, K, Mg, Mn, Na, Ni, and Zn are slightly to moderately acid soluble. Only Ca and Na are water soluble; As and Ca are soluble in the basic solution. The results of this study indicate that the extent to which cations in Class F PC fly ash can be leached by naturally occurring fluids is very limited.