Title: Relationships among loss-on-ignition and unburned carbons, and the FTIR photoacoustic spectra of fly ashes

Authors: Maohong Fan, Robert C. Brown, Masakatsu Nomura, Yahui Zhuang

Addresses: Center for Sustainable Environmental Technologies, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA. Center for Sustainable Environmental Technologies, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA. Department of Applied Chemistry, Osaka University, 2-1 Yamada-oka, Suita, Osaka 565-0871, Japan. Research Center for Eco-Environment Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shuangqing Road 18, Beijing, 100085, China

Abstract: Loss-on-ignition (LOI) and unburned carbon (UC) concentrations of fly ash are two very important indices for evaluating combustion efficiencies of boilers. They are also very important factors affecting the utilisation of fly ashes. The LOI and UC of five fly ash samples collected from different power plants were analysed. The Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) photoacoustic spectra (PAS) of these fly ash samples were observed. The LOI and UC of fly ashes were found to correlate with the heights of the baselines of their FTIR PAS. The strength of the photoacoustic signal of fly ash has a stronger relationship with its UC than its LOI. Moreover, the LOI of fly ash is always higher than its UC.

Keywords: Fourier-transform infrared photoacoustic spectroscopy; loss-on-ignition; unburned carbon.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEP.2003.003311

International Journal of Environment and Pollution, 2003 Vol.19 No.3, pp.301 - 309

Published online: 21 Aug 2003 *

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