Mineralogy, Chemical Composition, and Microstructure of Ferrospheres in Fly Ashes from Coal Combustion

• Published in: Energy & fuels Vol. 20; no. 4; pp. 1490 - 1497
• Main Authors: Zhao, Yongchun, Zhang, Junying, Sun, Junmin, Bai, Xiangfei, Zheng, Chuguang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Chemical Society 19.07.2006
• Subjects: 01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT; Applied sciences; CHEMICAL COMPOSITION; COAL; COMBUSTION PRODUCTS; Energy; Energy. Thermal use of fuels; Exact sciences and technology; FLY ASH; Installations for energy generation and conversion: thermal and electrical energy; IRON COMPOUNDS; MICROSPHERES; MICROSTRUCTURE; MINERALOGY; Thermal power plants; Asia; China; China, People's Rep; Scanning electron microscopy; Electric power plant; Mineralogy; X ray spectrometry; Combustion; Dispersive spectrometry; Fly ash; Optical microscopy; Magnetic separation; Coal; Chemical composition; X ray diffractometry; Microstructure
• ISSN: 0887-0624; 1520-5029
• DOI: 10.1021/ef060008f

Fourteen samples of coal and ferrospheres, which were recovered by dry magnetic separation from fly ashes, were collected from five power plants in China. The mineralogy, chemical composition, and microstructure of ferrospheres in fly ashes have been studied by optical microscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Mössbauer spectroscopy, and field emission scanning electron microscopy equipped with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (FSEM-EDX). Iron in ferrospheres mainly occurs as Fe3O4, α-Fe2O3, γ-Fe2O3, MgFe2O4, and Fe3+−glass, ferrian spinel, and so on. On the basis of iron content, the ferrospheres in fly ashes are classified into four groups, namely ferrooxides (Fe ≥ 75%), aluminosilicate-bearing ferrooxides (75% > Fe ≥ 50%), high-ferriferous aluminosilicates (50% > Fe ≥ 25%), and ferroaluminosilicates (Fe < 25%). Ferrooxides are derived from the oxidation of iron-bearing minerals, whereas aluminosilicate-bearing ferrooxides, high-ferriferous aluminosilicates, and ferroaluminosilicates are formed by the fusion of different proportions of inherent iron-bearing minerals and clay minerals. According to their microstructure, the ferrospheres in fly ashes are classified into seven groups, namely sheet ferrospheres, dendritic ferrospheres, granular ferrospheres, smooth ferrospheres, ferroplerospheres, porous ferrospheres, and molten drop ferrospheres. Sheet ferrospheres are derived from the oxidation of iron-bearing minerals immediately; smooth ferrospheres, molten drop ferrospheres, ferroplerospheres, and porous ferrospheres are the complex eutectic of inherent iron-bearing minerals and clay minerals; dendritic ferrospheres and granular ferrospheres are formed by the conglutination after the oxidation of iron-bearing minerals. Ferrooxides and aluminosilicate-bearing ferrooxides are important sources of the initial layer that occurs in deposits formed in coal-burning systems.