INTRODUCTION

I am a post-graduate student of Vinoba Bhave University Hazariabg, &I have completed my Summer
Industrial Training Programme in the esteemed company Tata Steel, West Bokaro division. My primary
objective for this training programme was to acquire a vivid knowledge about mining geology & role of a
geologist in coal mines and to get a broad overview of the coal beneficiation process.

The role of Tata Steel’s West Bokaro division is to cater the clean coal requirement of coke ovens of its
Jamshedpur steel plant by processing the raw coal in two washeries (washery 2 &3). These washeries
beneficiate high-ash raw coal (approx. 35% ash) to low-ash clean coal (approx.17% ash) at possible higher
yield (about 40% yield). The total resources in West Bokaro Leasehold area of Tata Steel is estimated for 9
MT DPR (up to seam V).

Location and Accessibility: West Bokaro Leasehold area is located in the central portion of the West
Bokaro Coalfields. Administratively, it falls in the Kedla block of Ramgarh district in the state of Jharkhand,
India. The block falls in the Survey of India toposheet no. 73E/5. The district town Ramgarh is about 30
kms. From the blockChainpur is the nearest railhead in the Gomah-Barkakana loop line. All weather metal
road connecting Ramgarh with Cherhi via Parsabera passes through the Leasehold. Tata Steel Township,
Ghatotand, lies amidst the Lease and is accessible throughout the year.

Fig. 1 Map showing geographical location of Ramgarh district

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 SAFETY TRAINING (Prior to the Main Training)
Prior to the commencement of the Industrial Training and Project work, I have gone through safety
training in the JRD Tata Training Centre, West Bokaro Division. There I have learnt about Road safety,
Accommodation safety and Plant safety measures which are very essential to keep in mind during the
training period.

The Road safety measures are as follows:

➢ Safety belts should be always used while travelling on four-wheelers.
➢ Crash Helmet should be always used while travelling on bikes.
➢ Treble-ride should be avoided.

The Plant safety rules are as follows:

➢ No unsafe behaviour is to be shown during the training period and time, discipline and rules
of the company are to be strictly followed during the tenure.
➢ Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) like safety shoes, helmet, safety goggles, ear plugs, nose
muffs and safety jacket should be used during training.
➢ During plant visit running equipment like conveyors, vibrating screens etc. should not be
touched.
➢ Hand railing should be always used while using stair-case.
➢ Training guide should be always informed prior to any Plant visit or entering & leaving the
Plant.
➢ Standing under loaded and moving overhead cranes should be avoided.
➢ Entering in barricaded areas should be avoided.
➢ Some important telephone nos. are to be noted for emergency like: Fire- 5444/5555
Ambulance- 5351
Electrical- 5360
Security Control Room- 5345 & 5346.

2
 GENERAL GEOLOGY
West Bokaro coalfield is one of the important coalfields of Damodar valley coalfields, and
geographically located in Ramgarh district in the state of Jharkhand, India. It extends over an area of
180 sq.kms long & 12kms in width and is located between latitudes 23° 44´00” and 23°50´30”&
longitudes 85°24´00” and 85°42´00”.

Table1. The regional Stratigraphic sequence in West Bokaro coalfields is as follows (G.S.I. 1987):

AGE FORMATION LITHOLOGY & THICKNESS

RECENT Alluvium and laterite
JURASSIC Intrusive bodies Basic and ultra-basic dykes
and sills
UPPER TRIASSIC Supra- Panchet-Mahadeva? Conglomerates, ferruginous
sandstones and siltstones- 600
m
LOWER TRIASSIC Panchet Fine grained sandstone, green
shales and red and chocolate
coloured shale and clay – 450
m
UPPER PERMIAN Raniganj Fine grained sandstone,
siltstone, carbonaceous and
grey shales with thin coal
seams – 550 m
MIDDLE PERMIAN Barren Measures Carbonaceous shales, grey
micaceousshales with iron
stone – 300 m
Barakar Conglomerates, pebbly
sandstone, very coarse
grained to fine grained
sandstone, grey shale,
carbonaceous shale, fire clay
and coal seams -610 m
LOWER PERMIAN Karharbari Conglomerates, very coarse
grained sandstones,
carbonaceous at places and
thin coal seams 40 -60 m
UPPER CARBONIFEROUS (?) Talchir Diamictites, fine to medium
TO BASAL PERMIAN grained greenish and buff
coloured sandstone, shale,
rhythmites, turbidites, etc-
160 m
Unconformity
PRECAMBRIAN Granite, gneiss, amphibolites,
quatzites, pegmatites etc.

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 ➢ West Bokaro lease of TATA Steel (Ghatotand) lies in the central part of West
Bokarocoalfields.Entire leasehold is occupied by sandstones, shales & coalseams of Barakar
Stage of Damuda Series of the lower Gondwana System. Neither the younger formations nor
the older formations crop out in the area. Most of the coal seams are confined to the upper and
middle sections of the Formation. Igneous intrusive are outcropped in quarries and
intersected in few boreholes.

Fig.2Geological map of West Bokaro (Ghatotand) lease area

The Lease area is divided into 6 blocks:

1. North-Eastern Block (NEB)

2. Quarry AB (QAB)
3. Quarry CD (QCD)
4. Quarry E (QE)
5. Central Site (CS)
6. Quarry South-Eastern (QSE)

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Fig.3 Different blocks of the leasehold area

Table2. Geological succession of West Bokaro lease area is given below:

AGE FORMATION LITHOLOGY & THICKNESS

RECENT Alluvium and laterite
JURASSIC Intrusive bodies Basic and ultra-basic dykes
and sills
Barakar Conglomerates, pebbly
sandstone, very coarse
grained to fine grained
sandstone, grey shale,
carbonaceous shale, fire
clay and coal seams -610 m
LOWER PERMIAN Karharbari Conglomerates, very coarse
grained sandstones,
carbonaceous at places and
thin coal seams 40 -60 m
Unconformity
PRECAMBRIAN Granite, gneiss,
amphibolites, quatzites,
pegmatites etc.

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LITHOLOGY
Detailed exploration with 815 boreholes (drilled at 200mx200m grid spacing) has revealed sufficient
sub-surface information on seams XIV to seam I. The block is completely occupied by Barakar
sandstones and 3 to 4 m thick soil/alluvium in the low lying areas. The lower seams have not cropped
out in the leasehold area. Various lithology intersected or exposed in the block are granite gneisses,
Talchirs, Barakars, intrusives and soil/alluvium.

➢ Though granite gneisses are not exposed it was intersected in 16 boreholes in the leasehold
area.
➢ Talchir Formation is not intersected in boreholes. But some transition was noticed in one
borehole (in central site).
➢ Barakar Formation: The formational contact between Barakars and metamorphic denotes
unconformity. This formation is represented by sandstones, buff shales, boulder beds &coal
seams. Medium to coarse grained grayish-white to yellowish-white weathered sandstones are
exposed in the entire study area. The mineral composition of sandstone is generally quartz,
feldspar & mica in clayey matrix. Weathered sandstones have ferruginous coating. The shales
are varying in colour from buff to grey. Different facies of shale such as carbonaceous shale,
micaceous shale, and sandy shales are observed. Exposures of coal seams are observed in
different parts of the leasehold area.
➢ Intrusives: Intrusive bodies in the form of mica-peridotite dykes crop out in QB and are also
intersected in few boreholes in the western part of NEB & QE. The disposition and behavior of
these intrusives are not very clear from borehole data. However, from the limited data
available, it appears that, there are two or three intrusive bodies intersected at varying depths.
One body is identified as a sill which runs parallel to seam XII (either at roof or at the floor), so
that part of the seam is converted to jhama/baked coal. Another intrusive body is intersected
near seam XIII, near seam VII and near seam XII.

STRUCTURE
The West Bokaro Coalfield is a broad half-basin, with its closure on the west. The other half of the
basin is represented by the East Bokaro Coalfield, separated from the former by Lugu Hills. The Pre-
Cambrian - Gondwana boundary in the north is marked by E-W trending set faults. The southern
boundary of the basin is generally normal. The regional strike of the Gondwana sediments is more or
less E-W, but varies from ENE-WSW to NW-SE at places maybe due to faults and unevenness of the
basement. The Barakar beds in the southern limb of the basin show a uniform northerly to north-
westerly dip.

➢ The Leasehold area forms a horst being enclosed by the Banji Fault in the west and the Kedla
Fault in the east.Northern boundary is controlled by Chutua Fault (northerly throw), while the
Dhuni Fault (southerly throw) truncates the southern part. The general strike in the Leasehold
is NE-SW to E-W with gentle dips south-easterly to southerly. The dips are gentle to moderate

6
 varying mostly from 1°- 5° dipping due south-easterly. High gradients are present in NEB and
QE dump areas. Gentle gradients are present in QAB, CS and QSE blocks. Density of faults is
higher in QE dump area, QCD area, south-eastern and north-western portions of SEB, southern
part of NEB areas. Rest of the area is free from disturbances.

Faults: A total of 46 faults are interpreted in the Leasehold area, which are usually NW-SE trending
and have varying throws. Out of these, 10 faults are major ones with throw ranging between 40-170m,
15 faults in the range of 15-40m, 14 faults in the range of 10-15m and 6 faults have less than 10m
throw. All faults are normal faults. The fault zones are concentrated and the boundary of QAB-SEB
and NEB in north and QE-QCD and south-western part of SEB in the south. The area between these
two zones of faults is devoid of faults.

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 DESCRIPTION OF COAL SEAMS
Almost all the major seams of West Bokaro coalfield are present in the leasehold except the two
younger most seams. 41 coal seams have been recognized in the area, out of which 14 are major seams
(I to XIV) which are persistent and co-relatable throughout the lease, 9 of the rest are local seams or
bands having workable thickness in a considerable area and remaining 18 seams are very localized
and are least significant. Seam VII is the thickest of all the major seams (8-11m). Seams VI to X crop
out in the south-western part of the leasehold, while the younger seams crop out in the eastern part.
The younger most seams XIII & XIV are restricted to the deepest part of the basin in the south central
part of NEB. Outcrops of seams are affected by burning may be due to forest fire or spontaneous
combustion. Few areas are also affected by intrusives. Bottom most seam is correlated as seam I
(oldest seam) while the top most seam is correlated as seam XIV (youngest seam). In the upper
horizon (between seams X and XIV) and lower horizon (between seams V and I) coal to parting ratio
is increasing (17.5:158 & 12.5:172). As the seam thickness of bottom seams are reducing and inter-
seam parting is increasing, seams II & I are not feasible for mining at the moment.

In West Bokaro coal seams III, V, X, XIIIexhibits split nature in some blocks while seams VIII
& IX and seams IX & X shows merging character in considerable area. Carbonaceous shale is the most
common intra-seam lithology with grey shale and sandy shale less frequently encountered. The
naming convention applied for parting (inter-seam mid burden) is to utilize the lower most seam to
designate the parting interval, example seam IV parting represents the inter-burden between seam V
& IV.

In the leasehold seams X & I are present & persistent in all the blocks, while the top seams
XI to XIV have localized presence.

Table3. Details of seams present in various blocks:

BLOCK NEB QAB QCD QE Central site SEB Housing

including including
OX area Washery
complex
Seams XIV-I X-I X-I XII-I X-I XI-I XIV-I
Present
Seams Virgin X-V X-V X-V X,IX,VIII,VII XI-V Virgin
mined/being mined by
mined UG and OC -
NIL

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Table4.The sequence of coal seams along with details of parting is given in the following table:

LITHOLOGY THICKNESS
Soil 3-4 m
Medium to coarse grained weathered sandstone 3-4 m
Medium to coarse grained partially weathered sandstone 2.5-6 m
Shale and sandstone interbeded 5-25 m
Seam XIV 4-6 m
Shale, sandstone and one thin locally developed seam with one thin local coal bed 15- 25 m
(XIIIA)
Seam XIII, mixed with carb. Shale partings 2-4 m
Interbededshales, carb. Shales and sandstone with 6 thin locally developed coal 50-70 m
seams (XIIA, XIIB, XIIC, XIID, XIIE, XIIF)
Seam XII 2-4 m
Interbededshales, carb. Shales and sandstone with 8 thin locally developed coal 40-60 m
seams (XIA, XIB, XIC, XID, XIE, XIF, XIG, XIH)
Seam XI 2-4 m
Interbededshales, carb. Shales and sandstone with 5 thin locally developed coal 40-50 m
seams(XA, XB, XC, XD, XE)
Seam X with carb. Shale parting 2-5 m
Carbonaceous shale at places, one local coal band 1-12 m
Seam IX 1-4 m
Carbonaceous shale and interbededshales 0-10 m
Seam VIII 0.5-7 m
Interbededshales, carb. Shales and sandstone 5-20 m
Seam VII with 0.20-0.80 m carb. Shale 8-11 m
Fine to coarse grained sandstone and shale 10-25 m
Seam VI 3-7 m
Fine to coarse grained sandstone and shale with 2 locally developed coal seams 2-20 m
(VA, VB)
Seam V with carb. shale parting 3-5 m
Interbededshales, carbonaceous shale and sandstone with one thin locally 15-25 m
developed coal seam/band (IVA)
Seam IV 1-4 m
Fine to coarse grained sandstone and shale with one thin local band (IIIA) 5-25 m
Seam III mixed with 0.5- 1 m carb. Shale 3-6 m
Interbededshales, carbonaceous shale and sandstonewith one thin locally 20-40 m
developed coal seam (IIA)
Seam II mixed with 0.5- 1 m carb. Shale 1-4 m
Fine to coarse grained sandstone and shale 40-60 m
Seam I 0.5-3 m
Medium to coarse grained sandstone, Gritty sandstone with intermediate shale; 50-60 m
Conglomerate at bottom
Unconformity
Granitic Gneiss Basement

9
 GPR Surveying
Basic Principles of a GPR

GPR stands for ground penetrating radar. GPR is based on ultra-wide band electromagnetic pulse
emissions in the subsurface and records their reflections from lithological interfaces and lithological
differences, layers or objects. Traditionally GPR uses a transmitter with a power transistor voltage of
about 50v. This limited performance to light soils with low signal attenuation (dry sand or frozen
soils). Depth of scanning in this case was only in the first few meters, and scanning was not possible
at all if the geological section had wet clays or loam. Therefore, instruments of this type were used
sparingly, and mostly to solve local tasks in engineering geology and when studying shallow objects.

Technical Parameters

Bertha Transmitter: 20MW “monopulse”: Effective penetration depth is 200m

• The capacity of the transmitter can be from 1 to 10-20 Megawatt

• Working frequency range (MHz) 1-250
• Number of samples per scan (ns) 512, 1024, 2048, 4096
• Antennas can be 0.3m, 1m, 1.5m, 3m, 6m, 10m and 15m.

Hardware

The Radar uses different sized antennas, transmitters, receivers and consoles. The Radar is
configured as follows:

• A Transmitting Antenna
• A Receiving Antenna
• A Transmitter
• A Receiver
• Receiving Console
• Laptop with proprietary software
Scanning to different depths or achieving certain resolutions, requires the same configuration with
component parts changed to suit the target and objective.

10
 •

GF

GPR Method

GPR works by sending a tiny pulse of energy into a material and recording the strength and the time
required for the return of any reflected signal. A series of pulses over a single area make up what is
called a scan. Reflections are produced whenever the energy pulse enters into a material with
different electrical conduction properties or dielectric permittivity from the material it left. The
strength, or amplitude, of the reflection is determined by the contrast in the dielectric constants and
conductivities of the two materials. This means that a pulse which moves from dry sand (dielectric of
5) to wet sand (dielectric of 30) will produce a very strong reflection, while moving from dry sand (5)
to limestone (7) will produce a relatively weak reflection. To go deeper the wavelength of the
elecromagnetic needs to be increased to penetrate larger depths by using larger antennas resulting
in decrease of frequency. Due to this the GPR at higher depths can not record minor structures, but at
lower depths due to very high frequency waves the GPR produces a very high resolution detailed
images.

While some of the GPR energy pulse is reflected back to the antenna, energy also keeps traveling
through the material until it either dissipates (attenuates) or the GPR control unit has closed its time
window. The rate of signal attenuation varies widely and is dependent on the properties of the
material through which the pulse is passing.

Data Processing

Data is collected in parallel transects and then placed together in the appropriate locations for
computer processing in a specialized software program such as GSSI’s RADAN. The computer then
produces a horizontal surface at a particular depth in the record. This is referred to as a depth slice,
which allows operators to interpret a planview of the survey area.

In many situations, a GPR operator will simply note the location of a target so that it can be avoided.
For these clients, it may only be necessary to use a simple linescan format in order to mark the
approximate area of the target on the survey surface. Other clients may require detailed subsurface
maps and depth to features.

These situations will require the operator to use GSSI GPR processing software, which applies
mathematical functions to the data in order to remove background interference, migrate hyperbolas,
calculate accurate depth and much more.
11
Figures showing working principles of GPR

12
GPR survey in the field

13
 Drilling and Cores-
For exploration purposes borehole drilling is executed in the field to obtain core samples
representing lithology.

A core sample is a cylindrical section of (usually) a naturally occurring substance. Most core samples
are obtained by drilling with special drills into the substance, for example sediment or rock, with a
hollow steel tube called a core drill. The hole made for the core sample is called the "core bowling". A
variety of core samplers exist to sample different media under different conditions. More continue to
be invented on a regular basis. In the coring process, the sample is pushed more or less intact into the
tube. Removed from the tube in the laboratory, it is inspected and analyzed by different techniques
and equipment depending on the type of data desired.

The core Samples studied by me consisted of principal lithological components of sandstone, shale,
carbonaceous shale and coal. The sandstone are mostly very fine grained, fine to medium grained to
coarse grained and micaceous. Some of the sandstone layers contained alternate fine grained mud
laminations.

Coring Process
In Wireline core drilling process in the core barrel, an inner tube is attached with the drill
bit. As the drill bit cuts the underground lithologies, it gets captured into the inner
tube. During drilling when the core was captured, an upward pressure was
injected to the inner tube so that the core barrel may be displaced. To counter attack
this problem two coupling techniques, ‘lock-coupling’ and ‘guide-coupling’ were used.
Lock-coupling locks the inner tube with the core barrel so that it can stays in its position
and guide-coupling guides the core barrel to capture the core.

The coring process was maintained by 3m run, i.e. when the core samples was of 3m
length (core barrel size) the core was pulled out from the inner tube by putting down an
‘overshot’. Recognition of fulfillment of 3m core into the inner tube was
accomplished by monitoring the water pressure on the surface. In this case a ‘shut-off
valvewas attached on the top of the inner tube. When the inner tube is filled
up, the shut-off valve suffered pressure from both ends, drill core pressure from the
down and injected water pressure from the top. At this situation, the water-pressure
meter on the surface indicates a fluctuation of water pressure, which further indicates
that the fulfillment of the core barrel. Then an over-shot was lowered on the end of at
wireline. The over-shot attached with the core barrel inner tube and the wireline was
pulled back and the inner tube disengages itself from the barrel. For wireline drilling the
rods are made up of fine high-tensile steel. This makes them thin, so that the core can
be as large as possible.

14
The lower end part of the inner tube was attached with a ‘core-socket’.
The inner diameter was reduced(at a gradient 8-1 0°) towards its lower opening
part, i.e. towards its attachment with the drill bit. As a result when the core
entered into the inner tube its get captured, it can not escape out due to
gravitation attraction from the core-tube while it was pulled out by wireline.

15
 LITHOLOGGING AND GRAPHICAL CORE LOGGING
LITHOLOGGING
Lithologging of drill core of boreholes is an important stage in exploration and it done in reconnoitery,
exploratory and evaluation stages of drilling to characterise the lithology.

Lithologging is systematic depth wise enumeration of details of core sample or rock

exposure in cross section.

Objectives-
The basic objective of litholgging of core is to provide a fractual, accurate and concise record of
the important geological characteristics of exploration. The basic observation recorded while carrying out
lithologging included sediment or rock type, formation boundaries, physical properties such as colour,
texture , grain size and structures etc.

Graphical Core Logging

Graphical core logging is a collecting field data of sediments/ sedimentary rocks is to construct a grphic log
of the succession. Logs immediately give a visual impression of the section and are a convenient way of
making correlations and comparisons between equivalent sections from different areas.

16
 Floor contour maps
The floor contour maps represent the base or floor of a particular coal seam in the form of elevation
contour maps .A seam floor at depth from surface encountered by various drillholes in the area have
been deducted from the surface elevation at the point where the drillhole is made to get the reduced
levels (R.L.) of the bottom of the seam, which gives the configuration of the floor of the seam.
Therefore prepared floor contour which are connecting points of equal Floor Relative Level. In such
a way floor contour line lines representing equal floor depth of coal seams are drawn to odtain an
over configuration of the seam regionally. From this floor contour map we can interpret the overall
attitude of the coal seam. It can give us the regional strike orientation and the changes in it, along with
the dip directions. Dip amount can also be determined depending on the contour spacings. We
constructed a floor contour map with five m contour spacings which sig provided as map i.

Isochore mapping
Thickness maps are a fundamental tool in structural geology. They represent thickness variations
and thickness trends of a given unit. an isochore is a line that connects points of equal vertical
thickness.

Figure depicts a perfect cylindrical fold, where

the western flank dips more than the eastern
flank. Well 1 cuts the yellow bed at a higher angle
than well 3, and therefore, the vertical thickness
found in well 1 is larger than in well 3. Well 2 cuts
the bed where is horizontal, and therefore the
vertical thickness equals the real thickness. The
real thickness of the yellow bed
isconstant:500m

Figure shows the isochore map -contours for

equal vertical thickness- for the yellow bed
depicted in figure 1. Red colour indicates minimum
vertical thickness, whilst purple shows maximum
value. You can see that it shows what you can see
in the cross section: we would measure increasing
vertical thickness as we move away from the hinge
of the fold, as the dip of the bed increases and
therefore we would cut the yellow bed at a higher
angles. An isochore map is drawn in the attached
graph sheet.

17
 COAL SEAM STRUCTURE
Formation of cal in the geologic record, coal occurs in beds called seam which are blanket like coal deposits
a few centimeters to meters or hundred of meters thick.

Occurrence-
Many coal seams occur with in sandstone, mudrock and systematically overlain by an under clay. A bed of
coal seams usually varries in thickness which to be profilably mined. A coal seam of around 3-4 m thickness
is generally, observed to provide normal working height for efficient extraction.

Significance-
We draw coal seam structure to know thickness of coal and overburden through structure we plot the
actual layer of bed on the seam structure graph. By drawing seam structure on graph we easily find the
depth and which type of coal is their.

18
 WASHABILITY CHARACTERISTICS OF COAL
The washability characteristics of a coal reserve are generated by obtaining the liberation data on
raw coal sample from mines. Liberation refers to the amount of physical breakage required to
separate materials of different densities. Low density material is generally Clean Coal whereas high
density materials are designated as Rejects (rock particles). The intermediate density materials are
known as Middlings.

Washability characteristics are determined from float/sink analysis of core samples, mine samples or
from preparation plant feed samples. During the test, the sample is characterized and quantified as
low-density clean coal, high-density reject or intermediate density middling.

To determine the washability characteristics of coal, first of all, the run-of-mine (ROM) coal
which is of lump size is being sampled and screened for 20mm size. This screened sample portion is
crushed in jaw crusher (fig.6) and is reduced to desired quantity by coning and quartering process
(fig.7). Then this reduced quantity is again crushed in jaw crusher (and sample is taken for direct ash
analysis) and is screened for different particle sizes viz. 13mm, 10mm, 6mm, 3mm, 1mm, 0.5mm and
-0.5 mm and their individual weight is noted. The size range from 0.5mm to 13mm is taken for
float/sink analysis. Direct sample for ash analysis is also taken from -0.5mm size range and another
portion of this sample is sent to froth floatation cell for further analysis.

The float & sink tests are conducted over a range of densities (from sp. gravity 1.3 up to sp.
gravity 1.8, generally with an increment of 0.5 as 1.3, 1.35, 1.40, 1.45, 1.48, 1.50, 1.53, 1.55, 1.60, 1.65,
1.70, 1.75, 1.8) and a variety of sizes (from coarse to fine). The sample is being subjected to a medium
of particular sp. gravity (Tri-Chloro Ethylene or TCE with sp. gravity 1.47 is the main component of
the medium; Bromoform with sp. gravity 2.88 & Petroleum with sp. gravity 0.88 are used to increase
and decrease the density of the medium respectively in order to attain the desired density), in which
the lighter part of a sample floats and the heavier part sinks (say, for a medium of sp. gravity 1.5, part
of the sample having sp. gravity <1.5 floats whereas rest of the sample of sp. gravity>1.5 sinks). The
float is collected and dried (weight is noted) whereas the sink is subjected to a medium of higher
density.

Froth recovery testing (in Froth Floatation cells) (fig.8) is performed on finer size
particles.Froth floatation process produces froth of selective mineral agglomerates (here coal) and
separates them from associated fractions as overflow (clean coal fines). The physico-chemical surface
properties of optimum fine size fraction make some specific minerals hydrophobic (coal also). The
finer particles turn into water repellant by coming in contact with moving air bubbles in presence of
certain reagents: collectors which are organic compounds that make the surface of certain selective
minerals water repellant, the mineral surface absorbs the collectors during conditioning period
making them hydrophobic & thus froth is formed when mineral particles come in contact with flowing
air bubbles & float to the surface; frothers are surface-active chemicals that concentrate at the air-
water interface which prevents air bubbles from coalescing or bursting by lowering the surface
tension of the slurry, and modifier which modifies or reduces the action of the collector by
19
intensifying or reducing water repellant effect of mineral surface condition. The cell is operated for
60 seconds after addition of the sample when the agitator rotates to mix up the sample which is
known as the conditioning time. After that the reagents are added and air pressure at 0.5kg/ton is
passed into the cell for 90 seconds which is known as recovery time. The froth portion moves up
(sample is taken) leaving the rest below (tailing) (sample of tailing is also taken), stabilizes for a while
at the top of the cell, overflows and moves to cleaner, filter and drier in sequence to form the final
product.

If the coal contains higher percentage of middling, then, crushing studies are required to be
performed to determine if additional yield can be obtained by liberating coal from the middling
through crushing.

Thus, 17 samples are generated from the whole procedure (13 from float/sink tests; 2
samples taken for direct ash analysis; 1 froth sample & 1 tailing sample) which are further grinded in
Double roll mill (fig.9) (<3mm), reduced by coning and quartering and is further grinded in Raymond
Mini Mill to produce a pulp of -72mm/212 micron size. 1-5 grams of this pulp is used for analysis. The
analysis includes proximate analysis (fixed carbon content, ash content, volatile matter content and
inherent moisture content in coal) and also Fluidity test, Crucible Swelling Number (CSN), Dilation
test and also Gross Calorific Value (GCV) test (for middling).

Float/sink or washability tests provide information to fully understand the characteristics of coal
which are needed to ensure:

➢ Compliance with customer and plant specifications.

➢ Accurate blending for optimum plant operations
➢ Assessment of coal quality and prediction of expected recovery rates(yield).
➢ Characterization of types and amounts of impurities.
➢ Determination of optimum parameters (say, sp. gravity range for dense media cyclones) for
plant operations.
➢ Determination of optimum size range of specific coal for cleaning .

20
 ROM COAL
(Lump size)
Screening (20mm)

1st JAW CRUSHER

Coning & Quartering

2nd JAW CRUSHER

(13mm to 0.5mm) FLOAT/SINK TEST
1st Direct
(Range of sp. gravity
sample taken
from1.30 to 1.80)
for ash
analysis
Screening 1.30
1.35
13mm 5
Individual 1.40
m
10mm
weight noted 1.45
6mm
3mm 1.48
1mm 1.50
0.5mm 1.53
2nd Direct - 0.5mm 1.55
sample 1.60
taken for 1.65
ash analysis FROTH FLOATATION CELL 1.70
1.75
1.8
0

FROTH TAILINGS
Sample Sample 13 Samples
(CLEAN COAL FINES)

17 samples are generated

DOUBLE ROLL MILL

(Reduces to <3mm)

Coning & Quartering

RAYMOND MINI MILL

(Reduces to -72 mesh/212 micron)
21
PULP
(1 to 5 gm)
 Analysis of coal-
Various chemical properties of coal are necessary to be analysed for proper economic evaluation of
of the obtained coal.Thus various chemical and physical properties of coal are thoroughly analysed
for attributing these properties to coal seams of different portions of of the lease area for knowledge
of the grade, properties, use and treatment of the coal obtained from the seam concerned.

Important properties of coal that are analysed are moisture content, volatile matter content, ash
content, fixed carbon content, swelling index / number, coking property, net calorific value.

Proximate analysis of coal is done to determine moisture, VM and ash content of coal.

Manually these properties of coal are determined successively in the following way

Inherent moisture content

1. At first the coal is kept for about 24 hours in air, for air drying. This removes the surface
moisture occurring in the coal.
2. Then the air dried coal is pulverized into a fine-grained powdery form.
3. Then approx.. 1 gmof the air dried coal is heated at approximately 1080 C to release the
inherent or residual moisture of the coal in vapour form.

Inherent moisture content=(W1-W2)/W1X100 %

W1= Weight of coal with inherent moisture, W2= Weight of the coal after inherent moisture is
released.
Volatile Matter %
4. Next take approximately 1 m of the prepared coal sample in a crucible of known weight W1,
and fit the lid tight to avoid oxidation and record its weight(W2). Place the crucible with
sample and lid in a stand and then place it in a preheated VM furnace at 9000 C. Ensure position
of crucible stand within zone of uniform temp. and heat it without contact of air for 7 min so
that the volatile matters are released. After taking it out let it cool and record weight(W3).
V.M. %=(W2-W3)/(W2-W1)x100
Ash content %
5. For ash content determination, put the prepared coal samplein a silica dish weighing W1, and
distribute the materials so that the spread more than 0.15g/cm3, and record the weight(W2).
Put the uncovered dish in a muffle funace gradually raising the temperature to 500 C at first
30 min and to about 800 C in the next 30 to 60 min. This results in complete combustion of the
coal in presence of air. Take it out and let it cool and record the weight let W3.
Ash content %=(W3-W2)/(W2-W1)x100

.Now Thermogravimetric analyzers are used for proximate analysis of coal.

22
Gross calorific value is measured in a bomb caloriemeter giving the no of calories produced from per
unit mass combustion of the coal sample
Free Swelling index of coal is determined in a free swelling index analyser, as 1 gm of powdered air
dried coalis put in a airtight crucible and heated at about 800 C in complete absence of oxygen,
resulting in swelling of the coal sample in the form of coke. It’s swelling is then measured with respect
to the international standard sizes, and the free swelling index is attributed accordingly.The Free
swelling index isis considered to be the measure of coking property of the coal.

23
 WASHERY VISIT
COAL WASHERY
Coal washing is a process of separation mainly based on difference in specific gravity of coal and
associated impurities like shale, sandstone etc. so that relatively pure (low ash content) marketable
coal can be obtained without changing its physical properties.

A coal washery is a facility that washes coal of soil and rock and such impurities since more of this
waste material is removed, lower is the total ash content of coal & greater is its market value.

Based upon ash content of raw coal, industrially coal is classified into some grades, such as, Steel
Grade 1, Steel Grade 2, Washery Grade 1, Washery Grade 2, Washery Grade 3 & Washery Grade 4.

Coal excavated from the mines of the leasehold area is of Washery Grade 3 (24%-28%) & Washery
Grade 4 (28%-34%). Coal Washery beneficiates these grades of coal to a considerable lower ash
content of about 17% as per date.

TATA Steel (West Bokaro Division) consists of two coal washeries - Washery 2 and Washery 3.

Raw coal coming from mines are crushed in primary crusher & secondary crusher to reduce lump
size of fragments to <200mm. Some fragments of size >150mm remains, which are then subjected to
thrusher which reduces size to -75x0mm. In the Coal Handling Plant (C.H.P.) this size fraction is
crushed and screened in a 13mm screen. Fraction of +13mm size is subjected to pre-treatment.
Fraction of -13mm size is sent to Raw CoalBunker. From raw coal bunker, -13mm sized coal is passed
through a de-slimming screen after adding magnetite added water to it which is pumped from the
pump house. From the de-slimming screen -0.5mm size passes as underflow which is treated in froth-
floatation cell for generation of clean coal fines as froth (which is collected in Thickeners for
dewatering and then its moisture content is lowered from 30% to 20-23% by a Vacuum Belt Filter
or VBF)and tailingand -0.5mm to 13mm size passes as overflow which is treated inDense Media
Cyclone:primary and secondary cyclones respectively to generate clean coal coarse (moisture
content is reduced from 12% to 5.5-6% by the help of a Centrifuge), middling & reject.

Dense media gravity separation methods use a material such as magnetite to form a
medium denser than water to assist in separation. A cyclone is a conical vessel in which coal along
with finely ground magnetite (media) is pumped tangentially to a tapered inlet and short cylindrical
section followed by a conical section where the separation takes place. The higher sp. gravity fractions
being subject to greater centrifugal forces pull away from the central core and descend downwards
towards the apex along the wall of cyclone body and pass out as reject/middling. The lighter particles
are caught in an upward stream and pass out as clean coal through the cyclone overflow outlet via the
vortex finder.

Clean coal coarse and clean coal fines are mixed to produce composite clean coal.

Thus the prime components of a coal washery are as follows:

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• Raw Coal Bunker
• De-slimming screen
• Froth Floatation Cell
• Dense Media Cyclone: Primary and Secondary Cyclones
• Thickener (Fig.12)
• Centrifuge
• Vacuum Belt Filter (VBF)

Fig.6 Dense Media Cyclone Fig. 7 Tailing Thickener

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 VISIT Fig 8.Flowchart showing the process of obtainining composite clean coal,
TO
middling, tailing, rejects from raw coal in washery 3

WASHERY 3
The Washery 3 operates according to the principle described in the previous chapter. Here the
primary dense media cyclone is set at a higher gravity cut separating reject from clean coal and
middling. Clean coal and Middling are further separated in the secondary dense medium cyclone
which is set at a lower gravity cut. Washery 3 is fed by motor pump. The Vacuum Belt Filter (VBF) of
Washery 3 is largest of its kind in the world.

RAW COAL
BUNKER

FROTH
Coarse raw coal Fines raw coal FLOATATION
DESLIMING
SCREEN CELL

Froth
HIGH RATE
PRIMARY THICKENER
CYCLONE
SCREEN BOWL
CENTRIFUGE

Fines clean coal

TAILING
Coarse VACUUM THICKENER
Clean BELT FILTER
SECONDARY Coal
Reject CYCLONE

REFLUX
Middling CLASSIFIER

REJECT MIDDLING CLEAN COAL

TAILING DE-WATERING PLANT
BUNKER STOCKPILE BUNKER

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Fig.10 Schematic representation of Washery 3
 Mines Visit[Quarry Q(SEB)]
QSEB is a block within the lease area. It is an open cast or open-pit mine which is a surface mining
technique of extracting rock or mineral (here coal) from the earth by their removal from an open pit
or borrow.

Open pit mines are used when deposits of commercially useful minerals or rocks are found near the
surface; i.e. where the overburden (surface material covering the valuable deposit) is relatively thin
or the material of interest is structurally unsuitable for tunneling.

Open pit mines are typically enlarged until either the mineral resource is exhausted, or an increasing
stripping ratio (ratio of overburden to ore) makes further mining uneconomic.

➢ Process of Extraction: Open cast mines are dug on benches which describe vertical levels of
the hole. The walls of the pit are generally dug at an angle less than vertical, to prevent and
minimize damage and danger from rock-falls (depending upon how weathered the rocks are,
type of rock and how many structural weaknesses occur within the rocks such as faults, shears,
joints etc.). The walls are stepped, the inclined section of the wall is known as Batter and the
flat part of the step is known as the Bench. The vertical height varies between 5-10m
depending on width of the coal seam, type of machineries deployed and to minimize footwall
dilution.

A haul road is usually situated by the site of the pit, forming a ramp up which trucks,
loaders and dumpers can drive, carrying coal and waste rocks. The vehicles are all GPS supported
for continuous monitoring and navigation.

Waste rock is piled up at the surface, near the edge of the open pit which forms Outpit Dumping.
But in QSEB, waste rock is piled up within the pit at definite areas, known as Inpit Dumping. The
waste dump is also tiered and stepped to minimize degradation. Dumping places are carefully
selected; faulted areas which are less suitable for mining are preferred for dumping. Underground
water (if any local aquifer is cut during extraction), or water accumulated due to precipitation is
pumped out.

Seams I to XI are present in QSEB, but only seams V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X and XI are being mined.
Carbonaceous shale and sandstone are the most common intra-seam lithology with a thick
carbonaceous shale layer between seam VIII and IX. The interval between seam V and seam XI is
about 40m.

27
High-wall mining is being planned to be performed at a section of QSEB, where the wall has been
cut nearly vertical due to shortage of batter area for which step cutting cannot be done. In this
method, entry into the coal seam is made by a continuous miner (with teeth for cutting), remotely
operated from a cabin at the surface. The cut coal is transported by conveyors behind the miner
to the outside.

Fig.4 An overview of Quarry SEB showing section for high wall mining and in-pit
dumping sites

28
 Fig. 5. High wall mining in seam V in quarry SEB

Myers Washability Curve

The cumulative % wt. floats or sinks is plotted against Specific Gravity(S.G).

If the material consists of two minerals completely leberated from each other, the curve will be a stepped
line. The width of the step indicates the S.G difference between the minerals and the height of the steps,
the relatives amounts of the mineral present.

29
 CONCLUSION
By going through the whole procedure of mining operation and coal beneficiation, it can be concluded
that:

1. Understanding the geology of the mining area, coal can be extracted economically with the
help of suitable techniques.
2. Proper survey &examination of the area will help in correct evaluation of resource.
3. For proper evaluation of yield of coal (clean coal, middling, reject) washability tests are
essential which provides information about:
• Compliance with customer and plant specifications.
• Accurate blending for optimum plant operations
• Assessment of coal quality and prediction of expected recovery rates(yield).
• Characterization of types and amounts of impurities.
• Determination of optimum parameters (say, sp. gravity range for dense media
cyclones) for plant operations.
• Determination of optimum size range of specific coal for cleaning .
• With the help of samples generated from washability tests, proximate analysis, fluidity
test, Crucible Swelling Number test, dilation test & GCV analysis (for middling) are
done for estimation of respective yields.

4. With the knowledge of the data acquired from these analyses, coal is beneficiated in
two washeries to get the desired yield which is transported by cables to the
dispatch section, where it is loaded to be supplied to the customers.

LIST OF REFERENCES
• Geological Report for the year 2012, TATA Steel Limited, West Bokaro Division
• Mineral Exploration: Principles and Applications, Dr. S. K. Haldar
• Coal Geology, Larry Thomas
• Coal Petrology, D. Chandra
• Internet
• Terravision website

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