title: Study of boron behaviour in two Spanish coal combustion power plants.
abstract: A full-scale field study was carried out at two Spanish coal-fired power plants equipped with electrostatic precipitator (ESP) and wet flue gas desulfurisation (FGD) systems to investigate the distribution of boron in coals, solid by-products, wastewater streams and flue gases. The results were obtained from the simultaneous sampling of solid, liquid and gaseous streams and their subsequent analysis in two different laboratories for purposes of comparison. Although the final aim of this study was to evaluate the partitioning of boron in a (co-)combustion power plant, special attention was paid to the analytical procedure for boron determination. A sample preparation procedure was optimised for coal and combustion by-products to overcome some specific shortcomings of the currently used acid digestion methods. In addition boron mass balances and removal efficiencies in ESP and FGD devices were calculated. Mass balance closures between 83 and 149% were obtained. During coal combustion, 95% of the incoming boron was collected in the fly ashes. The use of petroleum coke as co-combustible produced a decrease in the removal efficiency of the ESP (87%). Nevertheless, more than 90% of the remaining gaseous boron was eliminated via the FGD in the wastewater discharged from the scrubber, thereby causing environmental problems.
authors.affiliation: Instituto Nacional del Carbón (INCAR-CSIC), Francisco Pintado Fe, 26-33011 Oviedo, Spain.
authors.forename: Raquel
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ochoa-González
authors.forename: Aida Fuente
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Cuesta
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Córdoba
authors.forename: Mercedes
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Díaz-Somoano
authors.forename: Oriol
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Font
authors.forename: M Antonia
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: López-Antón
authors.forename: Xavier
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Querol
authors.forename: M Rosa
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Martínez-Tarazona
authors.forename: Antonio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Giménez
mesh_terms: D001895:Boron / Q000032:analysis*; D003031:Coal / Q000032:analysis*; D060729:Coal Ash; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources / Q000379:methods*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D005390:Fires; D005740:Gases; D007220:Industrial Waste; D010578:Petroleum; D011210:Power Plants; D014876:Water Pollution
chemical_list: D003031:Coal; D060729:Coal Ash; D005740:Gases; D007220:Industrial Waste; D010578:Petroleum; D001895:Boron