Enrichment and particle size dependence of polonium and other naturally occurring radionuclides in coal ash

Coal fired thermal power contributes 70% of power in India. Coal fired power generation results in huge amounts of fly ash and bottom ash of varying properties. Coal, which contains the naturally occurring radionuclides, on burning results in enrichment of these radionuclides in the ashes. In the present study, coal, bottom ash and fly ash samples collected from six coal-fired power plants in India were measured for 210Po using alpha spectrometry and for natural U, 226Ra, 232Th and 40K by an HPGe γ-ray spectrometer. 210Po in fly ash ranged from 25.7 to 70 Bq/kg with a mean value of 40.5 Bq/kg. The range and mean activities of 238U, 226Ra, 232Th, 40K in fly ash were 38.5-101 (78.1), 60-105.7 (79), 20-125 (61.7) and 43.6-200 (100) Bq/kg respectively. Fly ash and bottom ash contains two to five times more natural radionuclides than feed coal. The results were compared with the available data from earlier studies in other countries. The effect of particle size on enrichment factor of the nuclides in fly ash was studied. 210Po showed the largest size dependence with its concentration favoring the smaller particle size while 232Th showed least size dependence. 238U and 226Ra showed behavior intermediate to that of 210Po and 232Th. Also the correlation between sulfur content of the feed coal and activity of 210Po was investigated. Increased sulfur content in feed coal enhanced enrichment of 210Po in ash.