Alkali Leaching of Indian Coal for Ash Reduction

Coal is a major source of energy. The available Indian coal quality is very poor having very high ash content and low calorific value. Indian coal generates a large quantity of ash as a by-product of combustion. The objectives of the present study were to reduce the ash content of coal to produce ultra-clean coal. The coal was treated with a dual chemical leaching process consisting of NaOH followed by HCl.During experiments, the concentration of NaOH was varied from 2.5 to 10 M with 1.4 N HCl. Effect of shaking speed and time was analysed at 0, 50, 100, 150 and 200 rpm and 1, 2, 3 and 4 hours respectively. After chemical leaching, the ash content was reduced from 35.33 to 0.98% in the ultra-clean coal. The concentration of alkali, shaking speed and time of duration were found as highly influencing parameters for the reduction of ash content in the coal. Moreover, the current study should result in a better option for the removal of ash content from low-rank Indian coals.