Relation of proximate analysis with DTA due to spontaneous heating of some Indian coals

Abstract

The auto oxidation of coal ultimately leads to spontaneous combustion which is the major root cause for the disastrous of coal mine. It has been a major problem in the leading producing coal countries like Australia, India and China. Therefore the assessment for this combustion is very much necessary. It depends upon different characteristics and properties of coal. Once if the combustion of coal has been occurred, it is very difficult to control which also disturbs the environment of the surroundings of the mine. The spontaneous heating susceptibility of different coals varies over a wide range and it is important to assess their degree of proneness for taking preventive measures against the occurrence of fires to avoid loss of lives and property, sterilization of coal reserves and environmental pollution and raise concerns about safety and economic aspects of mining etc. This B.Tech dissertation deals with the relation of proximate analysis of coal with DTA-TG and due to the spontaneous heating tendency of some Indian coal. Eight insitu coal samples for the project were collected from SECL and SCCL mines, both from opencast as well as underground workings. The project deals with determination of spontaneous heating susceptibility of coal samples by Differential thermal analysis and its relation with proximate analysis of coal samples. The intrinsic properties as well as susceptibility indices of the coal samples were determined by following experimental techniques: i) Proximate analysis ii) Differential thermal analysis (DTA-TG) It was observed that the Proximate analysis values can be obtained by using small amount of sample and the volatile matter increases with the reduction in the weight of sample and the Transition temperature obtained from the DTA-TG plot cannot be taken as a sole parameter to assess the spontaneous heating of coal, rather Stage IIB and Stage II slopes give a better idea.