The occurrence of trace elements in coal and their concentration ranges are presented. The paper describes the origin of trace elements in coal, modes of accumulation, binding with mineral and organic matter as well as their behaviour during combustion. The presence of trace elements of coal origin should be taken into consideration when evaluating harmful impact of coal-fired fewnaces due to significant concentration of fly ash from combustion in suspended dust On the basis of analytical data emission of 15 trace elements from coal combustion in Poland is presented.

Industrial utilization of fly ash from various kinds of fuel plays an important role in the envi-ronmentally clean and cost effective power production. The primary market for fly ash utilizationis as a pozzolanic addition in concrete production. The paper concerns the concretes containingfly ash called Fly Ash from Biomass (FAB) from co-combustion of hard coal and wood biomass(wood chips). Characterization of the fly ash was carried on by means of X-ray diffractometryand E-SEM/EDS analysis. The results of laboratory studies undertaken to evaluate the influence of FAB on concrete resistance to surface scaling due to cyclic freezing and thawing in the presenceof NaCl solution were presented. The tests were carried out for concretes containing up to 25% offly ash related to cement mass. Additionally, the microstructure of air-voids was described.

It was concluded that the FAB has significant effect on concrete freeze/thaw durability. The re-placement of cement by fly ash from co-combustion progressively transformed the concrete mi-crostructure into less resistant against freeze/thaw cycles and excessive dosage (over 15%) maydangerously increase the scaling.