Fuel Technology-Ι

(ENT-332)
Coal Classification, Composition
and Basis
Coal is called a fossil fuel because it was formed from the remains of vegetation
that grew as long as 400 million years ago. Most of our coal was formed about
300 million years ago, As plants and trees died, their remains sank to the bottom
of the swampy areas, accumulating layer upon layer and eventually forming a
soggy, dense material called peat. Over long periods of time, the earth's surface
changed, and seas and great rivers caused deposits of sand, clay and other
mineral matter to accumulate, burying the peat. Sandstone and other
sedimentary rocks were formed above peat layer, and the pressure caused by
their weight squeezed out the water from the peat. Increasingly deeper burial
and the heat associated with it gradually changed the material to coal. Coal
formation is a continuing process and some of our newest coal is 1 million years
old. For the use of coal in various purposes, there is a need of widely acceptable
classification of coal. The very old and earliest classification was based on the
visual observation and the burning characteristics of coal are as follows:
Lignite or brown coal: Brown or Black color woody substances with high
moisture contents.
Bituminous coal: Black in color, easily ignites, and burns with flame and smoke.
Anthracite: Black color and lustrous, difficult to ignite and burns without flame.
In 1837, Regnault first classified the coal based on chemical composition in five
categories on the basis of total oxygen and nitrogen percentage using the
ultimate analysis of coal. In 1844, Walter R. Johnson, divided them according
to the ratio of fixed carbon to the volatile matter which is defined as Fuel ratio.
P Frazer (1887) used the fuel ratio to classify the various coals and it was
tabulated as
The different types of coal are usually classified by rank which
depends upon the degree of transformation from the original
source (i.e., decayed plants) and is therefore a measure of a
coal’s age. As the process of progressive transformation took
place, the heating value and the fixed carbon content of the coal
increased and the amount of volatile matter in the coal
decreased. The method of ranking coals used in the United
States and Canada was developed by the American Society for
Testing and Materials (ASTM) and is based on a number of
parameters obtained by various prescribed tests.
 Analysis of coal is also reported in terms of some arbitrary basis. These are,
1) Run-of-mine (ROM) When the coal directly obtained from a mine is analysed by
elemental or proximate analysis, the data are called run-of-mine.
2) As-received After extraction from mine, coal is transported to the receiver. The analysis
data obtained at this point is called as-received.
3) Air-dried When analytical data are collected after air drying the coal at a standard
condition of 400C and 60% relative humidity, the data are called at air-dried basis.
4) Dry When the effect of moisture content is removed from the analytical data, then that
is said as dry basis.
5) Dry and ash-free (d.a.f) When the data are reported excluding the effect of ash
content, then it is said d.a.f basis.
6) Dry and mineral matter free (d.m.m.f) When effects of both moisture and mineral
matter are removed from the analytical data, then it is reported as d.m.m.f basis. This
is the data of pure coal only.
7) Moist-mineral-matter-free This is the basis where the effect of mineral matter is
excluded, only pure coal and moisture are taken to report the data.
 Coal Mining
The technology required for recovering coal from the earth crust and transporting it into coal
processing unit, is the vital step of the coal mining. The mining technology is based on the
following operations:
1. Extraction of coal: the method used to break out the coal deposit into smaller lumps
2. Material handling: transportation of coal from the production locality.
3. Ventilation: the development of proper air circulation system within the mine
4. Ground control: to control and prevent the sagging of the underground or surface opening
developed during extraction of coal. There are two broad categories for mining of coal
 a) Surface mining
 b) Underground mining

Surface mining Surface mining is generally used when the coal seams are found within 200 ft
below the earth surface. Very big utilities and machineries are used for removing soil and
rocks to expose the top layer of coal. After extraction of coal, the rocks and soils are returned
to fill up the holes of the mine and the whole surface on the ground is properly revived to its
original state and can be used for cultivation, industrialization etc. This process is
comparatively less expensive compared to underground mining.
 Coal Mining
The prime considerations for this technique are geographic location, thickness and removal of
inter-seam waste and overburden and quality of the coal to be produced. Much of the overburden
contains layers of shale, limestone or sandstone and must be blasted before it can be removed.
After the overburden is removed coal is usually drilled and blasted, Removal of overburden is
called stripping and hence it is called strip-mining. The types of surface mining are;
a) area mining or modified open-pit mining
b) contour mining
c) mountain top removal
d) auger mining
Area mining is applied in relatively flat coal seams, where they are expanded in large area at
different depths. In this type of mining, overburden is removed by scrapers and placed outside the
mining area and loaded into trucks. Mining begins with drilling and blasting waste rocks to expose
the coal seams. Coal is removed and transported. The size and depth of the pit are increased as
mining progresses. This mining is adapted for the case when several seams lie in parallel. Contour
mining and mountain top removal are used in hilly areas. Contour mining creates a shelf or bench
on the side of the hill. The mountain top mining process involves the removal of upto 1000 inch
vertical feet of overburden to expose underlying coal seams.
 Augur mining is another type of surface method where overburden removal is uneconomic, where terrain
is too steep for overburden removal and where the underground method is impractical or unsafe. It involves
boring of large diameter holes into more or less horizontal coal beds. In this method, exposed surface of the
coal is drilled and removed by means of an auger. Single, dual or triple auger heads can remove upto 90
inches of coal for a distance of about 200 ft.
Underground mining When a coal seam does not appear near to the surface, it must be extracted by
underground process. Different underground methods may be classified as;
1) Room and pillar,
2) Longwall.

Room and pillar is a mining technique in which the coal is extracted across a horizontal plane making
horizontal arrays of rooms and pillars to support the roof created due to extraction. In this type of mining,
the methods may be either continuous or conventional. The main differences between the two methods are
in the nature of equipments and the face of operation. In continuous mining, the cycle begins with the
continuous sumping cut into the coal face by a continuous cutter or miner. A shuttle car is positioned behind
the miner to receive and transport the cut coal to the belt feeder. When the shuttle car is filled up, it moves
away and the next shuttle car is fed by the new cut and the cycle is continued. In conventional mining, the
breaking out of the coal from the face is done by cutting, drilling and blasting operation. At the beginning,
the cutting machine cuts a 3-4 meter slice horizontally across the room width and then moves out to the
next place to be cut. Then the drilling machine moves in and drills holes into the cut face. This is followed by
the blasting operation. Now the
 Coal Mining
Longwall mining is a typical form of underground coal mining where a long wall of
coal is mined in a single piece of around 3–4 km long and 250–400 m wide.
Longwall mining has a greater production activity than room and pillar
arrangement and is safer, as mining is done beneath a complete overhead steel
canopy that moves forward as the face of coal deposit is mined. Three pieces of
equipment are fundamental for modern longwall mining: armored face conveyors,
powered supports and the coal cutting machine. The cycle of face operations is
based on the movement of this equipment. The armored face conveyors are
erected along the coal face and are connected to a power support with the help of
hydraulic jacks. The cutter loaded usually slides along the top of the conveyor and
breaks out a 20-30 in coal strip. The broken coal chunks are carried by the conveyor.
 Coal Mining
Other methods
Shortwall mining is an alternative method which uses the equipments of both room and
pillar and longwall mining. The shortwall layout is similar to the longwall panels except that
the panel width is 150-200 ft wide. A continuous miner loading shuttle cars substitute for
the cutter-loader face conveyor system. Shortwall mining is applied to relatively shallow
coal seam.
Hydraulic mining uses large amount of water at high pressure to break and convey the coal
from the working area. It is usually applied for a relatively thick coal seam. Jets of water are
directed tangentially to the coal face for breaking coal lumps. Modification of the
equipments and methods for underground mining system to overcome the difficulties of
mining is a great challenge for the future. Remotely controlled longwall and continuous
miners may be adopted for higher productivity and improve safety.
END