The priority feature of coal drying which accounts for its industrial use is moisture removal. Though much improvement is made in thermal-drying process, volatilization of harmful elements during coal slime drying is mostly ignored which has manifold environmental implications. In view of this, the present study attempted to investigate the moisture and selenium (Se) volatilization proportion during coal slime drying by using electric blast oven (conventional) and microwave oven (microwave) drying procedures. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) technique was employed to investigate the chemical changes of raw and dried coal. The results indicated that the microwave-drying process eliminates the moisture in line format, whereas, moisture content was removed slowly (initial stage) during conventional drying and then rapidly (final stage) with increasing drying period. It was confirmed that the microwave drying took less drying time to remove water and make the coal dried compared with the conventional drying. Volatilization proportion of Se to the atmosphere was 38.81 and 61.13% during conventional and microwave drying, respectively. Findings of XPS analysis demonstrated an increase in C-C and C-H content, while a decrease in C-O fraction on the coal surface, after execution of drying procedures. Microwave drying appeared not only energy efficient but also proved an optimized method for removing oxygen-functional groups than conventional drying methods. Peak fittings of XPS spectra gave indication of several oxidation forms including selenide, selenate, and oxide species in coal slime after drying. It was concluded that Se volatilization including speciation characteristics should be considered an indicator of efficiency for coal drying process from environmental safety perspective.
Keywords: Coal slime; Microwave drying; Moisture; Selenium.