Simulated water-washing of organic compounds from self-heated coal wastes of the Rymer Cones Dump (Upper Silesia Coal Region, Poland)

The products of coal waste self-heating were investigated as potential contaminants of groundwater. Simulated water-washing was carried out to establish the types of compounds leached from coal wastes. The results indicate that it is primarily phenols, hydroxybiphenyls, anilines, quinolines and lower molecular weight (MW) polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) that are transferred to the water phase. Compounds retaining the molecular structure of a parent-lignin coniferyl unit seem to be good indicators of pyrolysate component leaching.