Indian Standard

Methods for sampling of coal (Manual)

3 size groups for sampling purpose

 Run of Mine Coal – 23 to 0 cm

 Coal, large – 15 to 5 cm
 Coal, small – 5 to 0 cm

Sampling when in motion – From conveyors or during loading or unloading

Sampling when stationary – From stockpile, loaded wagons

Sampling from conveyors

For different wt. of the lot different no. of sublots/gross samples need to be taken as per Table 1.

One representative gross sample from each sublot. Hence No. of gross samples = No. of sublots.

Wt . of goss sample
No. of increments =
Wt . of increments
Procedure of taking samples

 Increments are to be taken from the full cross-section or thickness of the stream in one
operation.
o Sampling is to be done at the discharge point of the conveyor belts.
o If whole stream cannot be covered by one increment without overfilling the
receptacle, material should be taken from all portions.
 If sampling at the point of discharge is not possible, increments are to be drtawn from
moving belt.
o [Increments are to be collected from centre, left & right sides of the belt along the
same width and the scoop should sweep the bottom of conveyor to obtain very
small material present in the conveyor as well.]
 If belt can be stopped periodically, the whole coal lying between sides of a suitable frame
placed across the belt should be drawn. The frame must be in contact with belt across its full
width.
 All increments in the sublot shall be mixed together to constitute a gross sample.

Sampling from wagons during loading/unloading

One gross sample from each sublot, hence No. of gross samples = No. of sublots

No. of sublots is to be determined as per Table 1.

Total no . of wagons
Then, the no. of wagons in each sublot =
No. of sublots
Minimum of 25 % of wagons shall be selected at random from each sublot & to ensure randomness
the procedure of random selection of wagons is to be followed.

Increments are to be drawn with the help of suitable shovel/scoop. Increments shall be evenly
distributed over the selected wagons.
Random selection of wagons for sampling

 There are two sets of random numbers in Table 5 :-

o First set is to be used if no. of wagons in the sublot ≤ 100
o Second set is to be used if no. of wagons in the sublot < 1000
 Once a set is selected any one numeral is selected from it at random.
 Starting from the selected numeral, other numerals are selected first in right or left
directions, then in up or down direction and then at last diagonally.
  Succeeding numerals are to be copied out one-by-one till the no. of numerals copied out =
no. of wagons to be chosen.
 Numerals greater than the size of the sublot or which have already occured shall be omitted.

Sampling from stockpile

No. of sublots is to be determined as per Table 1.

Surface of each sublot is to be levelled & one point for every 250 metric tonnes is to be chosen at
random.

Total wt . of the sublot (¿ metric tonnes)

No. of points from where sample has to be taken =
250(metric tonnes)
If the height of pile is not more than 1.5 m, whole section of coal from top to bottom in the area of
circle of 30 cm diameter should be drawn at every selected point.

If the height of pile is more than 1.5 m, section of coal upto a depth of 1.5 m in the area of circle of
30 cm diameter should be drawn at every selected point.

[For coals of size not more than 4 m, pipe sampling must be used.]

Sampling from loaded wagons

No. of sublots created must be according to Table 1
One gross sample from from each sublot meaning that the no. of gross samoles are same as the no.
of sublots.

Minimum of 25 % of wagons are to be selected at random. [Random selection is to be done with the
help of random number tables (Table 5) following the random selection process described earlier]
Whole section of coal from top to bottom over an area of 30 cm diameter is to be collected from any
random point on the coal surface of each of the seleted wagons.

Sampling of coal seam (in-situ)

It gives the measure of quality of coal to be mined.

Exposed surface should be as smooth as possible so that a rectangular channel may be cut out.

Few decimetres penetration into the seam should be done to avoid taking weathered coal if the
‘face’ has been standing exposed for some time.
Sample should represent entire cross-section of seam 30 cm in width & 10 cm in depth.

Two parallel lines 30 cm apart ending at right angles to bedding planes of seam shall be marked on
freshly exposed smooth surface of the seam. [Dirt bands exceeding 10 cms in thickness shall be
excluded.]

Channel between the marked chalk lines shall be cut to a depth of 10 cm.

Sample is to be collected on clean strong cloth/tarpaulin to prevent pieces flying off during
excavation of coal. Total height of channel shall be measured & noted.

Reduction of gross sample

1.) RoM Coal –
 Gross sample shall be crushed to 5 cm preferrably by mechanical means, mixed thoroughly
and quartered.
 Two opposite quarters are to be retained & rest rejected. Retained material should be mixed
together to be halved further and one half retained. [Finally retained material is actually a
quarter of the total quantity of the gross sample.]
 Material attained shall be crushed to 12.5 mm by a jaw crusher and then to 3.35 mm by a
palmac type of reduction mill.
 Crushed material shall be reduced repeatedly eith\er by coning and quartering or by riffling.

Coning and quartering

 Material crushed to 3.35 mm to be heaped into the slope of a cone by pouring one scoopful
of material after another at apex of the cone till the entire sample is coned.
 Material shall be allowed to slide down the sides of the cone only under the influence of
gravity.
 Cone is to be flattened evenly to form a low circular pile. Cut the pile into 4 quarters. Retain
one pair of opposite quarters and reject the other.
 Procedure is to be repeated till the size of retained sample is reduced to required weight of
2 Kg.

Riffling

 Material crushed to 3.35 mm shall be dropped in the riffle. One half is retained while
another half is rejected.
 Procedure is to be repeated till 2 Kg of material is obtained.

Laboratory Sample
Sample reduced to 3.35 mm size above shall finally be ground to pass through 212-μ IS sieve. From
ground material, 1.5 kg shall be taken which shall constitute the laboratory sample.

Each laboratory sample shall be divided into 3 equal parts one for purchaser, another for supplier &
the third for referee.
 2.) Large coal –

Same process as RoM coal, but half of the gross sample is crushed to 12.5 mm & ultimately to 3.35
mm. Rest process (even of laboratory sample) is same.

3.) Small coal –

Same process as that of RoM coal, but the whole gross sample is crushed to 12.5 mm & ultimately to
3.35 mm. Rest process (even of laboratory sample) is same.

Ash Fusion Sample

 Gross sample is reduced as per the process of reduction of RoM coal & an additional 1 Kg
sample is taken which passes 12.5 mm IS sieve.
 Grinding in iron mills should be skipped in order to prevent contamination with iron. In this
case separate quantities of 5 Kg of coarsely broken coal. (12.5 mm & below)
 Ash is ground in an agate mortar to pass through 75- μ IS sieve (Ash is obtained by
incineration).

Moisture Sample
 Mixing & crushing might cause a loss of moisture, so 2 or 3 special moisture samples are
taken from gross sample.
 If at all moisture samples have to be reduced, crushers must be used rather than grinders.
 If the coal has been partially or totally air-dried, it must not be exposed to an atmosphere of
appreciably different temperature or humidity at all.
 At the stage of reduction of gross sample to 12.5 mm, 5 Kg of sample is collected by not less
than 10 approximately equal increments (about 0.5 Kg).
 This sample is reduced to near about 1 Kg and put in an air-tight tin (properly sealed).

Number of tests
Laboratory samples shall be tested individually for characteristics like ash percentage, moisture etc.
For characteristics like ash fusion, a composite sample prepared by mixing equal quantities from each
of laboratory samples shall be tested.

Reporting of test results

 Results shall be reported as the value of the characteristic for the lot if a composite sample has
been tested.
 If two samples have been analysed individually, the average of the two shall be reported as
the value of characteristic for the lot sampled.
[Note :- Individual test results give an indication of the range of variation in quantity.]
 Suppose if ‘n’ no. of laboratory samples have been tested individually the average (X) and the
range (R) of test results have to be reported.
X 1 + X 2 +… … … .+ X n
o Average (X) =
n
o Range (R) = Difference between maximum and minimum od test results
 Limits of variation of avg. quality in the lot shall be reported as X ± hR, where h is a constant
the value of which depends upon the number of laboratory samples analysed.