Coal Properties

(Speight Chapter 9)
Dr. Winny Wulandari
´ Depending on rank & plastic properties, coal are
divided into:
´ Hard coking coal à production of strong coke
´ Semi soft coking coal à coke blend
´ Coal for pulverized coal injection
´ Thermal coal à electricity. Majority of thermal coal:
subbituminous to bituminous coal.
Density

´ True density : displacement of a fluid (should penetrates

pores, not cause swelling, not absorb strongly to coal
surface, wet the surface). “helium density”
´ Particle density: weight of a unite volume of solid
including pores & cracks. (mercury displacement, gas
flow, or silanization)
´ In-place density: ton per acre per foot of seam thickness
or tons per square mile per foot of seam thickness
´ Bulk density: mass of particles of coals divided by the total
volume occupied by the particles
´ Anthracite: 800 – 929 kg/m3
´ Bituminous: 673-913 kg/m3
´ Lignite: 641-865 kg/m3
Porosity & Surface Area

´ Pore volume
´

´ Porosity

´ Surface Area
Reflectance
Refractive Index
´ Indicates contents of macerals, carbonization
´ Determined by the relative degree to which a beam
of polarized light is reflected from a polished coal
surface
Mechanical Properties

´ Strength
´ Hardness
´ Friability
´ Grindability
´ Dustiness Index
´ Deformation & flow under stress
´ Scratch hardness: measuring the load on a pyramidal
steel joint required to make a scratch 100 µm in width
on the polished surface.
´ Friability: tendency to breakage on handling,
depends on toughness, elasticity, and fracture
characteristic
´ Weatherability: a measure how well coal can be
stockpiled for long period of time without crumbling to
pieces.
´ Grindability: the ease with which coal may be ground
fine enough for use as pulverized fuel. Grindability of a
standard coal: 100. Grindability index 50 à require
twice the grinding power
Thermal Properties

´ Calorific Value
´ Heat Capacity
´ Thermal Conductivity
´ Plastic & Agglutinating Properties
´ Agglomerating Index
´ Free Swelling Index
Calorific Value

´ GCV/HHV: heat produced by combustion of a unit

quantity of coal in a bom calorimeter with oxygen
under a specified set of conditions.
´ NCV/LHV (btu/lb)= GCV – (1030 x total hydrogen x
9)/100
´ Can be estimated empirical formula (e.g. Dulong
formula)
´ LHV = HHV – mw whfg
´ Dulong formula:
´ HHV (in MJ/kg)
´ = 33.83C + 144.45(H – O/8)+9.38S
´ C,H,O are mass fraction of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen
& sulphur in coal
Heat Capacity

´ Measured by standard calorific methods for mixtures

´ Specific heat of coal increases with moisture content,
decrease with carbon content, increased with volatile
matter content.
´ Empirically (mmf basis):
´ Cp = 0.189C + 0.874H + 0.491N + 0.360O + 0.215S
´ C, H, O, N, S in %w/w
Thermal Conductivity

´ Q=k.A.(t2-t1)/d ; k: thermal conductivity

´ Banding & bedding planes in coal can complicate
single value of coal thermal conductivity
´ Anthracite: 5-9 x 10-4 kcal/s.cm.oC
´ Bituminous: 4-7 x 10-4 kcal/s.cm.oC
´ Pulverized bituminous: 2,5-3,5 x 10-4 kcal/s.cm.oC
´ Thermal conductivity:
´ Increased with an increase in the apparent density of
coal & VM, ash yield, and temperature
Plasticity

´ Physical changes which occures within “plastic range”

temperature
´ Indication of softening, chemical reaction, gas liberation,
resolidication.
´ Important requirement in coke blend
´ Fluidity in plastic stage determines proportion of a coal used in a
blend
´ When heated:
´ Non-caking (non-plastic) coal: residue is non-coherent
´ Caking coal: coherent, have degree of friability & swelling. Can
form agglomerates & adhere to surfaces of process equipment à
plugging
´ Bituminous coal: when heated at 300-550oC, VM released & solid
coal particles soften, swells, and solidified
´ Plastic properties à Gieseler plastometer
´ Some types of coal during
& after the release of
volatile matter become
soft and pasty and form
agglomerates à caking
coal
´ In a fixed bed, coke must
not cake as it burns à
consequency: § Free Swelling Index: a
agglomeration disturb the
availability of air; coal
doesn’t burn completely,
yielding low combustion
efficiency.
´ Non-caking coal à free
burning coal
§ Agglomerating index:
grading indes based on the
nature of residue from a 1 g
sample of coal when heated
at 950 oC in the VM
determination.
measure in increase in
volume of a coal when it is
heated under prescribed
conditions.
Electrical Properties

´ Specific Resistance
´ Electrical Conductivity
´ Dielectric Constant
Short Questions
(Discuss with your friends)
5. Apa perbedaan antara caking coal dan free-burning
coal?
6. Bagaimana efek Ash Softening temperature terhadap
performansi boiler?
7. Apa yang Anda mengerti tentang weatherability of
coal?
8. Apa kegunaan sifat konduktivitas termal dan sifat
elektrik batubara
9. Hitung HHV dari sampel batubara yang memiliki
komposisi sebagai berikut: C = 80%; H = 7%; S = 3,5%; N =
2,1% dan abu = 4,4%.