title: Comparative study of the microstructural and magnetic properties of fly ashes obtained from different thermal power plants in West Bengal, India.
abstract: This paper deals with the physical nature of the fly ashes obtained from two thermal power plants, situated in West Bengal, India. The fly ash samples are characterized by using comprehensive techniques with an emphasis on their ultrafine nature. The particle sizes of the samples are estimated using scanning electron microcopy (SEM) and found to lie within 0.18-5.90 μm. For morphology and compositional analysis, we also use SEM coupled with energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry. From X-ray study of the fly ashes the nature of conglomeration is seen to be crystalline, and the major components are mullite (Al6Si2O13) and quartz (SiO2). The magnetic measurement of the fly ash samples was carried out by SQUID magnetometer. (57)Fe Mössbauer spectra are obtained using a conventional constant-acceleration spectrometer with a (57)Co/Rh Mössbauer source. The hyperfine parameters obtained, in general, support the findings as made from XRD analysis and provide a quantitative measure of different iron ions present in the samples. The paper presents experimental data on the physical aspects of the fly ash samples of the thermal power plants which comprise coarse, fine, and ultrafine magnetic particulate materials and attempts to provide an exhaustive analysis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, Visva-Bharati University, Santiniketan, India. ashis.bhattacharjee@visva-bharati.ac.in
authors.forename: Ashis
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bhattacharjee
authors.forename: Haradhan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Mandal
authors.forename: Madhusudan
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Roy
authors.forename: Joachim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kusz
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Hofmeister
mesh_terms: D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000032:analysis*; D060729:Coal Ash / Q000737:chemistry*; D004784:Environmental Monitoring; D007194:India; D008280:Magnetics; D010316:Particle Size; D052638:Particulate Matter / Q000737:chemistry*; D011210:Power Plants; D018570:Risk Assessment; D013052:Spectrometry, X-Ray Emission
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D060729:Coal Ash; D052638:Particulate Matter