LAUSR

Poland emits 10.58 Mg of mercury to the atmosphere annually. More than 90% of this emission is generated by combustion and thermochemical usage of coal, including coking. In Poland, the coking industry consumes more than 12 million Mg of bituminous coals each year. Contrary to lignites and subbituminous coals used in power plants, there is not much reliable data on mercury content in Polish bituminous coals. The purpose of this paper was to determine mercury content in bituminous coals delivered to Polish coke plants and to analyze possible removal of mercury during coal cleaning processes. Eighty-two samples from 9 mines were analyzed. The average mercury content varied from 28.4 to 182.6 μg kg–1, with a mean value of 75.9 μg kg–1. The analysis of mercury content in three coals treated by (i) flotation, (ii) dense-media washing, and (iii) jig washer cleaning, revealed that mercury content in relation to net calorific value can be reduced by 27% (flotation) to 71% (dense-media washing). In addition, distr...