Elemental composition of suspended particulate matter from the combustion of coal and coal/refuse mixtures

Suspended particulate matter was sampled in various size fractions from the stack of a power plant when coal alone and mixtures of coal and refuse-derived fuel (RDF) were combusted. Concentrations of arsenic, cadmium, copper, germanium, nickel, lead, strontium, and zinc increased by at least a factor of two with decreased particle size when both coal and coal/RDF mixtures were fired. Levels of Cd, Pb, Zn, antimony, and tin were at least twice as high in the ash from coal/RDF combustion relative to combustion of coal alone for the smaller particle sizes. Particulate emissions from firing coal/RDF mixtures are not sufficiently enriched in metals to pose any greater environmental concern than particulate matter from combusting coal only.