IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v16y2024i13p5770-d1430189.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Low-Temperature Thermal Treatment and Boron Speciation Analysis from Coals

Author

Listed:
  • Jonah Gamutan

    (Western Australia School of Mines: Minerals, Energy and Chemical Engineering, Curtin University, 117 Egan Street, Kalgoorlie, WA 6430, Australia)

  • Shunsuke Kashiwakura

    (Research Organization of Science and Technology, Ritsumeikan University, 1-1-1 Nojihigashi, Kusatsu City 525-8577, Japan)

  • Richard Alorro

    (Western Australia School of Mines: Minerals, Energy and Chemical Engineering, Curtin University, 208 Kent Street, Bentley, WA 6102, Australia)

  • Tetsuya Nagasaka

    (New Industry Creation Hatchery Center, Tohoku University, 6-6-10 Aoba Aramaki Aza-Aoba, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8579, Japan)

Abstract

Despite urgent calls for decarbonization, the continued increasing demand for electricity, primarily from coals, has presented challenges in managing coal-derived wastes such as coal fly ash (CFA), which are enriched with environmentally hazardous substances like boron. This study explores a low-temperature heating process to remove boron from coal, aimed at preventing its condensation and enrichment into CFA during combustion. Initial boron concentrations in coals varied widely from 50 to 500 ppm by weight and were found to correlate with fixed carbon content (FC) through the following polynomial equation: [B] o = 0.0929(FC) 2 − 14.388(FC) + 601.85; R 2 = 0.9173. This relationship suggests that as coal undergoes coalification, boron-containing compounds are decomposed and released, resulting in a decline in boron levels as the coal matures. Boron-removal efficiency was investigated by drying coal samples at 110 °C, 160 °C, and 210 °C under natural air convection, and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy was used to assess changes in boron speciation during heating. Our results demonstrate that boron removal ranged from 5% to 82%, with minimal improvements observed beyond 110 °C. In addition, the 11 B MAS-NMR spectra of the coal samples showed four peaks at isotropic chemical shift values of −1.0, 2.0, 8.0, and 14.0 ppm and suggested that the species of boron volatilized at low temperatures is the inorganic BO 4 assigned to peak no. 0 at −1.0 ppm. The association of boron with inorganic components in coal suggests potential for efficient removal, particularly in coals with higher fixed carbon content. These findings highlight the viability of low-temperature thermal treatment as a cost-effective method for boron removal, which is crucial in mitigating the risks associated with coal combustion by-products.

Suggested Citation

  • Jonah Gamutan & Shunsuke Kashiwakura & Richard Alorro & Tetsuya Nagasaka, 2024. "Low-Temperature Thermal Treatment and Boron Speciation Analysis from Coals," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(13), pages 1-13, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:13:p:5770-:d:1430189
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/13/5770/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/16/13/5770/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Osman, Mohamed & Gachino, Geoffrey & Hoque, Ariful, 2016. "Electricity consumption and economic growth in the GCC countries: Panel data analysis," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 318-327.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Villanthenkodath, Muhammed Ashiq & Mahalik, Mantu Kumar, 2021. "Does economic growth respond to electricity consumption asymmetrically in Bangladesh? The implication for environmental sustainability," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 233(C).
    2. Marques, António Cardoso & Fuinhas, José Alberto & Neves, Sónia Almeida, 2018. "Ordinary and Special Regimes of electricity generation in Spain: How they interact with economic activity," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 81(P1), pages 1226-1240.
    3. Solomon P. Nathaniel & Festus V. Bekun, 2020. "Electricity Consumption, Urbanization and Economic Growth in Nigeria: New Insights from Combined Cointegration amidst Structural Breaks," Research Africa Network Working Papers 20/013, Research Africa Network (RAN).
    4. Lin, Jiang & Xu Liu, & Gang He,, 2020. "Regional electricity demand and economic transition in China," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    5. Magazzino, Cosimo & Drago, Carlo & Schneider, Nicolas, 2023. "Evidence of supply security and sustainability challenges in Nigeria’s power sector," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    6. Zhang, Chi & Zhou, Kaile & Yang, Shanlin & Shao, Zhen, 2017. "On electricity consumption and economic growth in China," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 353-368.
    7. Rath, Badri Narayan & Akram, Vaseem & Bal, Debi Prasad & Mahalik, Mantu Kumar, 2019. "Do fossil fuel and renewable energy consumption affect total factor productivity growth? Evidence from cross-country data with policy insights," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 186-199.
    8. Shi, Yong & Ren, Xinyue & Guo, Kun & Zhou, Yi & Wang, Jun, 2020. "Research on the economic development pattern of Chinese counties based on electricity consumption," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    9. Hamisu S. Ali & Solomon P. Nathaniel & Gizem Uzuner & Festus V. Bekun & Samuel A. Sarkodie, 2020. "Trivariate Modelling of the Nexus between Electricity Consumption, Urbanization and Economic Growth in Nigeria: Fresh Insights from Maki Cointegration and Causality Tests," Working Papers 20/010, European Xtramile Centre of African Studies (EXCAS).
    10. Shiwen Liu & Hongyuan Li, 2020. "Does Financial Development Increase Urban Electricity Consumption? Evidence from Spatial and Heterogeneity Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-17, August.
    11. Najia Saqib & Haider Mahmood & Aamir Hussain Siddiqui & Muhammad Asif Shamim, 2022. "The Link between Economic Growth and Sustainable Energy in G7-Countries and E7-Countries: Evidence from a Dynamic Panel Threshold Model," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 12(5), pages 294-302, September.
    12. Karanfil, Fatih & Omgba, Luc Désiré, 2019. "Do the IMF’s structural adjustment programs help reduce energy consumption and carbon intensity? Evidence from developing countries," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 312-323.
    13. Chen, Chaoyi & Pinar, Mehmet & Stengos, Thanasis, 2021. "Determinants of renewable energy consumption: Importance of democratic institutions," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 179(C), pages 75-83.
    14. Nyiko Worship Hlongwane & Olebogeng David Daw, 2023. "Electricity Consumption and Population Growth in South Africa: A Panel Approach," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 13(3), pages 374-383, May.
    15. Medeiros, Victor & Ribeiro, Rafael Saulo Marques, 2020. "Power infrastructure and income inequality: Evidence from Brazilian state-level data using dynamic panel data models," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    16. Guglielmo Maria Caporale & Luis A. Gil-Alana & Manuel Monge, 2019. "Energy Consumption in the GCC Countries: Evidence on Persistence," CESifo Working Paper Series 7470, CESifo.
    17. Nektarios A. Michail & Christos S. Savva, 2021. "Electricity consumption and economic activity in Cyprus using an asymmetric cointegration technique," Cyprus Economic Policy Review, University of Cyprus, Economics Research Centre, vol. 15(2), pages 26-41, December.
    18. A S M Monjurul Hasan & Mohammad Rokonuzzaman & Rashedul Amin Tuhin & Shah Md. Salimullah & Mahfuz Ullah & Taiyeb Hasan Sakib & Patrik Thollander, 2019. "Drivers and Barriers to Industrial Energy Efficiency in Textile Industries of Bangladesh," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-19, May.
    19. Abdullah Emre ÇAĞLAR & Çiğdem DEMİR, 2018. "Yenilenebilir Kaynaklı Enerji Tüketimi ve Ekonomik Büyüme İlişkisi: Avrupa Birliğine Ait Yeni Bulgular," EKOIST Journal of Econometrics and Statistics, Istanbul University, Faculty of Economics, vol. 14(28), pages 9-30, December.
    20. Hlongwane, Nyiko Worship & Daw, Olebogeng David, 2022. "Electricity consumption and population growth in South Africa: A panel approach," MPRA Paper 113828, University Library of Munich, Germany.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:16:y:2024:i:13:p:5770-:d:1430189. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.