Rare Metal Enrichment and Thermal Behavior of Maiganga Coal, Nigeria

Studies show lack of information about the detailed characterization of coal (Maiganga coal).This study aims to characterize Maiganga coal fly ash, the proximate, Ultimate, and calorific values were carried out on the studied coal sample following the American standards for Testing and Materials (ASTM) standards.Coal was decarbonized at different temperatures (900, 1000, 1100, 1200), further characterization was carried out using the following analytical technique, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) revealed the presence of characteristic vibrational modes suggesting the presence of oxides, silicate and sulfate, X-ray diffraction (XRD) revealed the presence of various crystalline phases, including quartz, illite, calcite, microcline and chlorite, X-ray fluorescence (XRF) for elemental composition, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) was used to investigate the morphology of the fly ash particles, analysis of the resulting image data shows particle size distribution, and how this varies throughout the sample, and Inductively Couple Plasma atomic emission Spectroscopy (ICP OES) confirmed the presence of trace metals and identified their relative concentrations, helping to determine the potential risks and benefits of using coal fly ash.Maiganga coal revealed reasonable concentration of Cesium which is an alkali metal but also a rare metal, other rare metals include lithium, rubidium, cobalt, gold, platinum, osmium, and iridium, the study also revealed the presence of 16 rare earth elements except for Promethium.