What is ISO 13605 about?
ISO 13605 is a safety standard on major and minor elements in coal ash and coke ash.
While coal ash contains contaminants that can potentially contaminate water and air, coke ash burns cleaner.
ISO 13605 sets out a wavelength dispersive X-ray fluorescence (XRF) procedure for the determination of silicon, aluminium, iron, calcium, magnesium, sodium, potassium, titanium, manganese, phosphorus, and sulphur in coal and coke ash.
The method is applicable to coal ashes, coke ashes, and boiler ashes having components within the concentration ranges.
Who is ISO 13605 for?
ISO 13605 on XRF for coal and coke ash is useful for sectors that use coal and coke for fuel. These include:
- The metals and mining sector
- The power supply sector
- Concrete and cement industries
- Glass and polymer industries
- Other sectors that use coal and coke as fuel
Other entities for whom ISO 13605 is useful include:
- Health and safety bodies
- Regulatory bodies
- Environmental bodies
- Chemical engineers
- Laboratories and field testing authorities
- Geologists and geochemists
Why should you use ISO 13605?
ISO 13605 is about major and minor elements in coal ash and coke ash. Calibration is carried out using pure chemicals and/or reference standards, and by making matrix corrections for inter-element effects. Laboratories using ISO 13605 have experience in analyzing coal ashes of certain compositions and they employ calibrations that cover these compositions. ISO 13605 specifies a procedure for determining the precision of disc preparation.
The specimen on which X-ray fluorescence measurements are made is prepared by incorporating the test portion of the sample, via fusion, into a borate glass disc using a casting or press-quenching procedure. The concentration of the analyzed elements in coal or coke ash is calculated from the measured X-ray intensities after correction for instrumental drift, dead time, and matrix effects.
ISO 13605 provides guidelines to monitor ash components so that the emissions are at an acceptable level; and health and environmental risks are mitigated.