ENERGY ENGINEERING

4th Term,
B.Sc. Chemical Engineering
Session 2013
Delivered by:
Mr. Rizwan Ali
Department of Chemical Engineering
University of Engineering & Technology, Lahore

MACRO- COMPONENTS OF COAL

Petrography of coal.
Visual examination of coal in the seam or in large pieces shows
that it is not homogeneous throughout its mass.
With most coals differences in texture are apparent, some
bands having a dull and others a bright appearance.
These bands may be separated from one another by ' dirt' bands
or may merge into one another without visible partings.
These differences are most marked in the case of bituminous
coals but can be traced in lignitous coals, in certain black
lignites and, to a less extent, in carbonaceous coals.

Continued
The macroscopic constituents in
bituminous coal which are
identifiable by eye have been termed
by
vitrain
clarain
durain
fusain

Vitrain
Vitrain is the bright black brittle coal which
normally occurs in very thin bands.
It breaks with a conchoidal fracture and, when
viewed in very thin sections (0.0005 in), is
generally translucent and amber-red in colour.
It is almost free from plant structures but shows
a faintly defined cellular structure.
A typical thin section of vitrain is shown in
Figure .

Continued
The cells of vitrain are generally filled
with ulmins and often consist of
complete pieces of bark.
Bark tissues are more resistant to
decay and form a larger proportion of
coal than might be expected owing
to the fact that bark formed a larger
proportion of the tree then than it
does now.

Clarain
Clarain is bright black but less bright than vitrain.
It is often finely banded so that it tends to break
irregularly.
In thin sections it shows partly the same appearance
as vitrain in thin bands, but these, are inter banded
with more opaque bands consisting largely of
fragmented plant remains among which can be
identified cellular material, spore exines and cuticle.
A typical clarain structure is shown in Figure

Durain
Durain is the dull greyish-black coal
which is hard and tough and breaks
irregularly.
In thin sections it is fairly opaque
and shows large and small spore
exines and woody fragments in a
matrix of opaque grains.
Figure shows a typical durain
structure with large flattened
macrospores

Continued
In the coal seam, durain bands are often thick, and
can be followed throughout the area of the seam.
The fragmentary nature of the plant remains in
durains suggests that its origin was the vegetable
mud carried into the coal basin by water flow; the
presence of a higher proportion of clay supports
this.
With very high proportions of clay, this material
becomes 'carbonaceous shale' and with very high
proportions of spore material it becomes the
variety of coal known as cannel.

Fusain
Fusain is the soft black powdery material
which occurs in very thin layers in the coal
and at which fracture tends to occur.
It shows the original cell structure of wood,
though considerably deformed, and is
considered to be woody fragments which have
undergone a different process of decay from
the rest of the coal.

Sections of Bituminous Coal taken perpendicular

to the Bedding Plane( X 20).

Assignment

Calorific Value
Weathering Index of Coal
Grindability Index of Coal
Specific Gravity
Bulk Density
Angle of repose
Porosity, Surface Area, Heat of Wetting
Refractive Index and Reflectance
Solubility of Coal

Calorific Value
Dulong Formula
CG = 1 ( 8080 C + 34500 (O+N-1) +
2220 S )
100
8
Goutal Formula
CG = 82 F + a. V

Caking Properties of Coal

The appearance of residue coke button in the
volatile matter gives an idea about caking
properties or caking capacity of coal.
Caking coals: Bituminous coal
Others are non caking.
a measure of caking properties is necessary
for

coal classification
Selection of coal
Production of coke
Performance of coal in combustion and gasification

Continued
Caking index of coal
Swelling Index of coal
Roga index
Gray-king Assay (G-K Index)
Thickness of Plastic Layer
Coke button indicates ( Sintered ,
Pulverulent , weakly caking , caking ,
strongly caking)

Caking Index
Measure of binding and agglutinating
property of coking coal.
It is maximum number ratio of sand
and coal in a 25 gm mixture , which on
heating at Std condition produces a
residue coke capable of withstanding a
weight of 500 gms without producing
more than 5% of loose grains of coke.
Typical value : 20-25

Swelling Index
Measure of caking capacity of coal.
1 gm ( -72 mesh ) air dried coal is heated in covered
crucible until volatile matter ceases to evolve.
Rate of heating is controlled in such a way that the
temperature of inner surface of base is 800C in 1.5
min and 820C in 2.5 min.
The crucible is cooled and coke button is removed
and shape and size of coke button is compared with
std coke buttons numbered from 1 to 9 with interval
of 0.5.
Higher the swelling index , better the caking and
swelling properties.

Continued

Roga Index
It is variation of agglutinating index.
Mixture of coal and anthracite in a fixed
proportion is carbonized under Std conditions.
1 gm of coal and 5 gm of anthracite (0.3-0.4
mm) is compacted in a porcelain crucible
under a load of 6 kg applied for 30 sec.
After being brought to a temperature of 850C
in 5 mins, the coke button is weighed (Q) and
screened through 1 mm sieve, the weight of
the +1 mm fraction being designated as 'a'.

Continued
This material is placed in a rotating drum of
diameter 20 cm and is rotated for three periods
of 5 mins each. At the end of each period the -1
mm fraction is removed by screening.
If b, c and d are the weights of the +1 mm
residues at the end of first, second and third
periods respectively, the Roga Index is given by
Roga Index = (a+d)/2 + b + c x 100
3
Q
Typical value : 0 - 70

Gray-king Assay (G-K

index)
Gray King Assay test is also carried out to observe the
coking property of coal.
20 gms of fine coal (-72 mesh size) is heated in a silica
tube to 600C.
After cooling, the coke formed is compared with
standard profiles numbers A, B, C,...... G, G1, G2, G3 ,
..,G10.
If the residue remained is a
Stage A = powder
Stage B =non-caking coal
Stage C and D = weakly caking coal
Stage E,F and G = medium caking coal.
Stage G = hard coherent mass with the same volume as
initially of coal
Stage G1, G2, G3 ,..,G10 =Strongly caking, coals swell

Continued
The suffix 1, 2,..... 10 indicates the
number of grains of inert carbon
which must be added to 20 gms coal
charge to give zero swelling or a
standard G type coke.
Roga index is related with Gray-king
Assay as index,
0 - 5=A - B, 5 - 10 = B - D, 20 = G,
45 = G4.

Dilatometric Properties
The dilatometric test is done for the knowledge
of the swelling and contraction of a coal during
heating under load without the access of air.
In this test the temperature range of plasticity
of a coal can also be determined.
There are a number of dilatometers used in
different countries. Some are:
Audibert-Arnu Dilatometer
Sheffield Coking Test Apparatus
Giesler Plastometer

Continued
The basic principles of all these dilatometers is to
record the expansion or contraction or the fluidity
of the coal sample which is heated at a constant
rate, say 1-3C/min to a temperature until the
plastic mass is resolidified.
The per cent expansion or contraction is plotted
against temperature for the first two apparatus,
Whereas in the third one the number of dial
divisions per minute is plotted against temperature.
The nature of curve gives the range of plasticity of
the coal sample.

Sheffield Coking Test Set-up &

Typical Dilatometric Curves A And B