Determination of Optimum Condition on Coal Desulfurization by Electrolysis Method

Inorganic sulfur in coal consists mostly of iron sulfides called “pyritic sulfur” that is covalently bound to the carbon atoms. Before being used as a fuel, coal needs to be given early treatment desulfurization in an effort to reduce emissions of SO 2 that could pollute the air because of coal combustion. Some method has been applied to reduce sulfur content and most of the effective coal desulfurization are based on chemical method. One of them that being hotly debated is electrolysis. This research is purposed to find the optimum condition for reducing sulfur content on lignite coal by electrolysis method. In this research, H 2 SO 4 is used as the electrolyte solution, while for anode and cathode is using graphite and stainless steel. The optimum condition is obtained at 0,3 M H 2 SO 4 with speed of 100 rpm stirring for 60 minutes operation time which decreases sulfur content of 75%.