Molecular and Stable Isotope Composition of Pollutants Emitted during Thermal Processes within the Rymer Coal Waste Dump (Upper Silesia, Poland)

Twenty-seven gases and sixteen rock wastes from the thermal active Rymer coal waste dump were collected. The composition and origin of gaseous, liquid, and solid pollutants emitted during the self-heating process and the development of these processes with time were established. Gases were subjected to determination of molecular and stable isotope (δ13C and δ2H) composition. Rock-Eval pyrolysis and pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (Py-GC-MS) were applied for evaluation of the quantity and molecular composition of pyrolysates released during the heating of rocks in temperatures from 100 to 650 °C. The main products of Py-GC-MS are released between 350 and 650 °C, namely alkanes, aromatic hydrocarbons, and aromatic alcohols. These components were also recorded in Py-GC-MS products of samples collected from the dump surface. Besides the high-molecular-weight organic compounds, in emitted gases CO2, CO, gaseous hydrocarbons, and S-compounds were recorded. The stable isotope data indicated that methane was generated mainly during the low-temperature thermogenic process, but a share of the microbial-originated gas was visible. The source of the CO2 was the oxidation of organic matter. The gaseous S-compounds were products of high-temperature decomposition of sulphides and organic S-compounds. The hydrocarbon and CO contents of the emitted gases proved to be good indicators for tracking of the self-heating processes.

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