Partitioning and transformation behavior of selenium during coal combustion

The partitioning of selenium in coal-fired flue gas and desulfurization wastewater is of great threat to the ecological environment and human health. However, the unclear understanding of interactions between selenium vapors and fly ash hinders the emission control of selenium from coal-fired power plants. To further illuminate the mechanism of selenium partitioning and transformation, this study carefully estimated selenium distribution characteristics in the coal combustion byproducts from several industrial power plants. The effective temperature range as well as the key ash components for selenium retention by fly ash was clarified by multiple-scale experiments and theoretical perspectives. The results showed that gaseous selenium tended to be captured by fly ash at a medium-to-low temperature range (i.e. below 650 °C). The limited residence time resulted in the incomplete capture of gaseous selenium by fly ash. Mullite, quartz, iron oxides, and anhydrite in fly ash were found to be the main trappers for gaseous selenium. Among these components, iron oxides showed excellent selenium adsorption performance at a wide temperature range of 150-700 °C, which was realized by the strong chemical adsorption. By contrast, as the dominant phases in fly ash for the physical adsorption of gaseous selenium, mullite and quartz mainly captured gaseous selenium below 300 °C. On the other hand, sulfur dioxides had priority over gaseous selenium to react with calcium-containing ash components by forming anhydrite in the high-temperature region. The formed anhydrite had a limited selenium adsorption capacity, which was confirmed to capture gaseous selenium through a combination of physical adsorption and weak chemical adsorption. For the in-depth control of selenium emitted into desulfurization system and atmosphere environment, these findings provided a comprehensive insight into the behavior of selenium partitioning and transformation into fly ash during coal combustion.