Microwave Acid Digestion for the Determination of Metals in Subbitumnious Coal Bottom Ash by ICP-OES

The development of precise and easy determination method for the metals in fossil fuel is the essential factor for the study of problems which are caused by the existence of metals in fuel. Coal contains many kinds of mineral matter elements including metals derived from its generation. The sample preparation method developed for metal determination in coal by spectroanalytical technique is dry ashing, and wet acid microwave digestion. Microwave-acid digestion (MW-AD) followed by inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES) was examined for the determination of metals (Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Zn) in coal bottom ash (CBA). Subbitumnious coal from Hazro deposits in SE Anatolia of Turkey has been used in this study. Metals in coal gave good recoveries for their certified or reference values.