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Mercury emission from underground coal fires: a typical case in China

  • SPECIAL FEATURE: REGIONAL CASE STUDY
  • Mercury cycles and their management
  • Published:
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Abstract

Mercury, a highly toxic environmental pollutant with a global circulation, must be controlled worldwide. Taking the Wuda underground coal fires, one of the most severe coal fire disaster areas in China, as a typical case, this paper systematically introduces the serious environmental output and strong environmental pollution of mercury from underground coal fires. Smoke with unusually high mercury concentrations was released from surface vents and cracks, resulting in significant enrichment of mercury in the air and surface sediments. A portion of mercury (particulate and reactive gaseous mercury) was deposited near the fire zones, but the positive high mercury fluxes of the surface soils indicated that mercury would again escape from the soil–air interface. The annual gaseous mercury emissions from the underground coal fires in China were estimated to reach 4.85 tonnes. Underground coal-fired mercury can be identified as an essential part of the global mercury cycle. Although some remediation measures were implemented, the development of coal fires proved difficult to control and was destined to be accompanied by the continuous release of mercury. Given the widespread distribution of coal fire cases worldwide, mercury pollution from underground coal fires deserves attention in the future.

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Fig. 1

The Fig. 1I was modified from Shan et al. [26]

Fig. 2
Fig. 3

Data were compiled from Shan et al. [26]

Fig. 4

The data of the Wuda coal fires were compiled from Shan et al. [26] and Hong et al. [30]. The data of the Wyoming coal fires were compiled from Engle et al. [36]

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Data availability

The data used in this article are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

This research is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41772157 and 41371449) and the State Key Laboratory of Coal Resources and Safe Mining (SKLCRSM17ZZ01).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Coal Resources and Safe Mining, Beijing, 100083, China

    Qingyi Cao, Yahui Qian & Handong Liang

  2. Department of Environmental Engineering, Graduate School of Engineering, Kyoto University, Kyoto, 615-8540, Japan

    Yingchao Cheng, Taketoshi Kusakabe & Masaki Takaoka

  3. College of Geoscience and Surveying Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology (Beijing), Beijing, 100083, China

    Qingyi Cao, Yahui Qian & Handong Liang

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  1. Qingyi Cao
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Cao, Q., Cheng, Y., Kusakabe, T. et al. Mercury emission from underground coal fires: a typical case in China. J Mater Cycles Waste Manag 25, 2706–2715 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10163-023-01616-9

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