Characterization of inorganic species in coal by laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy using UV and IR radiations

In this work, the capability of laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy for process control in a thermal power plant is presented through quantitative compositional characterization of the coal used for combustion. Laser-induced emission signal of seven samples with a range of concentrations was calibrated for quantification purposes. The eighth sample was subsequently analyzed five times as unknown in order to determine the precision and accuracy of the measurements. Two modes of operation, dynamic and static and two laser wavelengths, 1064 nm and 355 nm were employed in this study for comparison. The results revealed that UV wavelength provided better results than IR radiation in terms of accuracy for the quantification of inorganic species in coal after the comparison with conventional atomic absorption spectrometry characterization.