Applicative Coal Petrology for Industries: New Paradigms

Coal petrology plays a significant role in understanding coal behaviour during various industrial processes such as carbonization, gasification and liquefaction and helps in characterizing them accordingly. Proper use of fluorescence microscopy and vitrinite reflectance measurement is crucial; carbonization study shows that maceral composition and rank affect the thermoplasticity wherein vitrinite contributes most to the coke formation. Further, the vitrinite is catalyzed by the presence of exsudatinite. Liptinite, when associated with vitrinite, lowers the viscosity of coal during coke making. Coal petrology is successfully used to assess suitability of a coal for coking to predict coke strength and to evaluate coal for coal-blend designing. Composition, structure and behaviour of coke are revealed through petrographic study. The stability and reactivity of coke can also be realised through microscopy. Gasification of coal is performed best in bituminous coal while it is expensive in case of low rank or low grade coals. It can be a simple coal gasification, fixed bed gasification, fluidized-bed gasification, entrained-flow and molten-bath coal gasification. Though any coal may be used for gasification but coal with high reactive components are more suitable but bituminous coal with high inertinite is also suitable as per few researchers. Some minerals have catalytic effect while others act as inhibitors. Elemental composition of organic and inorganic matter of coal, its surface characteristics, porosity and intrinsic reactivity have important bearing on efficiency of gasification. Coal liquefaction is a clean fuel technology which requires proper petrological characterization of coal before processing it. Rank and type of coal along with its composition influence the liquefaction behaviour. Thus, it is imperative to carry out a complete coal microscopy before coal is utilized for making coke/coke-blend or liquid and gaseous hydrocarbon.

Automated summary

Coal petrology plays a significant role in understanding and characterizing coal behavior during various industrial processes. Fluorescence microscopy and vitrinite reflectance measurement are crucial for proper characterization. Petrographic study reveals the composition, structure, and behavior of coke. Gasification and liquefaction of coal are influenced by coal rank, type, and composition. Assessing the petrological characteristics of coal is imperative before utilizing it for coke production or hydrocarbon extraction.