MERCURY IN INDIAN COALS

Mercury in Indian coals belonging to different geological period and i n some fly ash and bottom ash samples obtained from thermal power stat ions has been determined. A wide range of variations in mercury conten t from the value as low as 0.01 to as high as 1.5 ppm in coal samples have been observed. The fly ash and bottom ash samples mostly contain less than 0.005 ppm of mercury. The concentrations of mercury in diffe rent specific gravity fractions of four coal samples show that the met al is concentrated mostly in the fractions 1.6-1.7 and above 1.7 indic ates its inorganic association in the fossil fuel.