GUIDELINES FOR SAMPLE COLLECTING AND ANALYTICAL METHODS USED IN THE U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY FOR DETERMINING CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF COAL

By Vernon E. Swanson and Claude Huffman, Jr.

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY CIRCULAR 735
1976

CONTENTS

1. Metric-English equivalents
2. Abstract
3. Introduction
4. Guidelines on collecting coal samples
5. Submitting samples
6. Analytical methods for determination of major, minor, and trace elements in coal
   1. Sample preparation
   2. Individual analytical methods
      1. Analysis of coal ash
      2. Ashing
      3. Atomic absorption spectroscopy
      4. X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy
      5. Emission spectroscopy
   3. Analysis of raw coal
      1. Mercury
      2. Antimony
      3. Arsenic
      4. Fluorine
      5. Selenium
      6. Uranium and Thorium
   4. Accuracy of analytical methods
7. Comments and recommendations
8. References cited

ILLUSTRATION

1. Flow chart showing sequence of sample preparation and chemical analysis

TABLES

1. Lower limits of determination, six-step spectrographic method
2. Comparative results, trace elements in EPA-NBS standard sample of coal
3. Comparison of U.S. Geological Survey analyses with Illinois State analyses

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