Home – Home – Jornals – Chemistry for Sustainable Development 2019 number 6

The absorption capacity of different types of coal from the largest deposits of West Siberia (Kansk-Achinsk, Kuznetsk and Gorlovskiy basins), composition and content of biogenic elements in the form of cations (K⁺, Na⁺, Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺) in water-soluble and exchange forms are studied. It is shown that the absorption capacity of coal, as measured by cation exchange capacity, increases with an increase in the coal metamorphism degree in the sequence: anthracite → coal → brown coal, and with an increase in dispersity of carbon particles from coarse size fractions to smaller ones. The major exchange positions in coal are occupied mainly by calcium, which, in turn, negatively affects the ability of coal to participate in the exchange processes with other biogenic elements. The ability of coal to absorb cations from solutions is largely determined not by the geologically caused density and porosity of coal but mainly by the total surface area of particles. The values of the cation exchange capacity of coal are comparable with the values for the most fertile soils of West Siberia (agrochernozems) and their parent rocks (loess-like loam) or even exceed them.