Content, distribution character and classification of arsenic in Chinese coal

The content of arsenic in Chinese coal was calculated on the basis of 1018 coal-seam samples. The samples were collected from 125 mining bureau and domestic mines of 26 provinces (municipalities, autonomous regions), they covered the whole coal areas in China. Meanwhile, we collected more than 900 commercial coal samples. The range of content of As in Chinese coal varies from 0 to 476 ppm, and its average 4.7 ppm is less than that of the world average. Distribution character was revealed by discussing the distributive difference of As in various regions, coal forming ages. The highest content of As in coal is in Central-south of China (especially Hunan province) and the least in North of China (especially Hebei province). The general trend is that the content of As in Chinese coal in Cenozoic and Mesozoic was bigger than that in Paleozoic. Studying on the correlation between As and related elements, such as S, Fe, etc. As was enriched in high ash coal and high sulfur coal. Based on the coal resources of China and the content, distribution character of As in coal, we put out one classification for As in coal (the standard of coal sector in China) which was divided into 4 grades: I As: less than or equal to 4 ppm; II As: >4 similar to 8 ppm;III As: >8 similar to 25 ppm and IV As: >25 ppm.