LAUSR

Quantification of phosphorus (P) and determination of the occurrence forms of P in solid fuels are important to thermochemical processing of P-containing solid fuels. This study has developed a new three-step method for separating and quantifying the total P in a solid fuel into five major P-containing fractions. These consist of three organic P-containing fractions (i.e., acid-soluble organic P, two acid-insoluble organic P including P in lipids and P in nucleic acids and other acid-insoluble organic structures) and two inorganic P-containing fractions (i.e., acid-soluble inorganic P and acid-insoluble inorganic P). The first step of this new method uses cold 0.6 M HClO4 to extract the acid-soluble P species. The extracted solution is then neutralized, followed by selectively converting the acid-soluble organic P in the solution into orthophosphate (PO43–), pyrophosphate (P2O74–), and tripolyphosphate (P3O105–) by UV irradiation in the presence of H2O2. The second step of this new method uses an ethanol/...