Coal continued sample

Statistical Results from the Analysis Methods. Continuous time vs. relative intensity curves were made spectrometrically for each of 11 elements in seven different coal ash samples. The results showed that peak intensities for all the elements in each sample were generally reached between 50 and 60 sec after initiation of the arc. This behavior helps to explain why using iron as the variable internal standard was successful for the normally wide range of volatilities represented. The large dilution factor involved or a possible carrier distillation effect of barium nitrate might explain the almost complete absence of fractional volatilization. 

Physical Properties. Most of the physical properties discussed herein depend on the direction of measurement as compared to the bedding plane of the coal. Additionally, these properties vary according to the history of the piece of coal. Properties also vary between pieces because of coal s britde nature and the crack and pore stmcture. One example concerns electrical conductivity. Absolute values of coal sample specific conductivity are not easy to determine. A more characteristic value is the energy gap for transfer of electrons between molecules, which is deterrnined by a series of measurements over a range of temperatures and is unaffected by the presence of cracks. The velocity of sound is also dependent on continuity in the coal. 

About one half of the coal samples used in the above study (61) have been investigated by workers in Gulf Research and Development Company, using a continuous flow reactor (63). The throughput was about 1 kg./h of coal/solvent slurry, the solvent was a partly hydrogenated anthracene oil, temperatures of 440 and 455°C were used, and the system was pressurized with hydrogen to 20.69 MPa. 

The product workup consisted of continuously extracting the filter cake with tetrahydrofuran (THF) and combining the THF and filtrate to make up a sample for distillation. In some experiments the THF extracted filter cake was extracted with pyridine and the pyridine extract was included in the liquid products. Extraction with pyridine increased coal conversion to soluble products by an average of 1.6 weight percent. The hot filtrate-THF-pyridine extract was distilled. Distillation cuts were made to give the following fractions, THF (b.p. <100 C), light oil (b.p. 100-232 C), solvent (b.p. 232-482), and SRC (distillation residue, b.p. >482 C). 

A small sample of a coal slurry containing particles with equivalent spherical diameters from 1 to 500 pm is introduced into the top of a water column 30 cm high. The particles that fall to the bottom are continuously collected and weighed to determine the particle size distribution in the slurry. If the solid SG is 1.4 and the water viscosity is 1 cP, over what time range must the data be obtained in order to collect and weigh all the particles in the sample ... 

Work continued in 1960-1963 in the Ohio Range (formerly called the Central Range of the Horlick Mountains) to procure coal for accurate analysis. Samples of outcrop coal and one excellent sample of coal from an adit opened in one bed were collected. Coal samples were taken in 1959 by John J. Mulligan (31) at Mount Gran in the vicinity of Frank Debenham and McKenzie Taylor s old Mount Suess locality. The following season Mulligan (32) sampled coal farther inland in the Willett Range. Brown and Taylor (6) published an analytic report on coal from the Theron Mountains in 1961. 

As an extension of the proximate analysis or coal assay, it is worthy of note that new methods continued to be developed. For example, thermogravimetric analysis has been extended to cover determinations of volatile matter (as well as determination of moisture and ash) in coal and coke. These constituents can be measured by pyrolyzing the samples in oxygen and air, and the weight loss at prescribed temperatures was measured by using a thermobalance. 

In the procedure (ASTM D-2639), the sample is air dried prior to preparation and the temperature should not exceed 15°C (59°F) above room temperature, and drying should not be continued to the extent that oxidation of the coal occurs and the plastic properties of the coal are not altered by oxidation. The apparatus is then immersed in the heating bath and a known torque applied to the stirrer. During the initial heating no movement of the stirrer occurs, but as the temperature is raised, the stirrer begins to rotate. With increasing temperature, the stirrer speed increases until at some point the coal resolidifies and the stirrer is halted (Figure 7.4). The plastic properties of the sample are then measured by the resistance to motion of the fluid mass in the plastometer. 

Another method (ASTM D-4808) covers the determination of the hydrogen content of petroleum products, including vacuum residua, using a continuous-wave, low-resolution nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer. Again, sample solubility is a criterion that will not apply to coal but will apply to coal extracts. More recent work has shown that proton magnetic resonance can be applied to solid samples and has opened a new era in coal analysis by this technique (de la Rosa et al., 1993 Jurkiewicz et al 1993). 

Another slurry pipeline desulfurization experiment was conducted using Indiana 3 (Ayrshire) coal as a 25 wt% slurry in deionized water. The other process variables were carefully controlled flow rates 6-6.5 ft/sec, temperature 70-90°F, and pH 2.5 -2 8.The experiment was continued for 14 days, and the slurry samples for pyritic sulfur determination were taken daily. The desulfurization rates with Indiana 3 coal in the pipeline experiment are shown in Table 4 and are in good agreement with the laboratory data and the results with Illinois 6 coal. As observed in the laboratory experiments, the rate of desulfurization of bituminous coals is directly proportional to the pyritic sulfur content and inversely to the particle size of the coal sample. 

Product Workup Procedures, A sample of the products was continuously extracted with THF and then with pyridine. Pyridine insolubles were analyzed for ash and conversions of MAF coal to pyridine solubles were calculated on the basis of the ash analyses and the mass recoveries. A mass recovery balance was calculated for each experiment. The mass recoveries averaged 97.8 percent. The mass and ash based conversions diverged by an average of only 2.7 percent. 

Figure 6. Mossbauer spectra (in situ) at various temperatures for the coal sample plus SRC-II and Hg. Continuous lines are the least-square fits to the spectra.

Using both a hybrid receptor model, developed by Lewis and Stevens ( 2) and modified by Gordon and Olmez (3), and a simple model of emission from the Ohio River Valley, we compare the results of the College Park (CP) samples as well as those of another continuous set of samples taken from July 3-29, 1983 at Wallops Island, VA (WI), to predicted results. Single-source differential equations (2) are used to describe the time-varying concentrations of SO2, SO and a particulate element characteristic of coal-fired power plant emissions (chosen here as Se). An additional equation (3) can be added to describe the concentration variation of B(0H)3 The following rate constants apply to the concentrations of the four species in question ... 

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