Sulfur and carbon isotope geochemistry of coal and derived coal-combustion by-products: An example from an Eastern Kentucky mine and power plant

The isotopic compositions of S (δ34S) and C (δ13C) were determined for the coal utilized by a power plant and for the fly ash produced as a by-product of the coal combustion in a 220-MW utility boiler. The coal samples analyzed represent different lithologies within a single mine, the coal supplied to the power plant, the pulverized feed coal, and the coal rejected by the pulverizer. The ash was collected at various stages of the ash-collection system in the plant. There is a notable enrichment in 34S from the base to the top of the coal seam in the mine, with much of the variation due to an upwards enrichment in the δ34S values of the pyrite. Variations in δ34S and in the amount of pyritic S in the coal delivered to the plant show that there was a change of source of coal supplied to the plant, between week one and week two of monitoring, supporting a previous study based on metal and sulfide geochemistry for the same plant. The fly ash has a more enriched δ34S than the pulverized coal and, in general, the δ34S is more enriched in fly ashes collected at cooler points in the ash-collection system. This pattern of δ34S suggests an increased isotopic fractionation due to temperature, with the fly ash becoming progressively depleted in 34S and the flue gas S-containing components becoming progressively enriched in 34S with increasing temperatures. Substantially less variation is seen in the C isotopes compared to S isotopes. There is little vertical variation in δ13C in the coal bed, with δ13C becoming slightly heavier towards the top of the coal seam. An 83-93% loss of solid phase C occurs during coal combustion in the transition from coal to ash owing to loss of CO2. Despite the significant difference in total C content only a small enrichment of 0.44-0.67 per mille in 13C in the ash relative to the coal is observed, demonstrating that redistribution of C isotopes in the boiler and convective passes prior to the arrival of the fly ash in the ash-collections system is minor