Coal quality trends and distribution of title III trace elements in eastern kentucky coals

摘要

The Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 (Title III and Title IV) have placed increasingly stringent limits on the type and grade of coal that can be mined and marketed. Because of these limitations it has become increasingly important to understand the coal quality characteristics of coal in Kentucky from a utilization perspective, both on an geographic and stratigraphic basis. This paper will focus on quality characteristics, and the distribution of selected elements in eastern Kentucky coals. Much of the resource in this geographic area occurs as compliance (< 1.2 pounds SO_2 / million BTU), or near-compliance coal (< 2 pounds SO_2 / million BTU) and, as such, will remain a valued fuel resource for the rest of this century, and well into the next.