Influence of coal porosity on the effectiveness of freeze conditioning agents

The effectiveness of a freeze-conditioning agent depends strongly on the coal substrate. In general, the greater the porosity of the coal, the smaller the effect of the freeze conditioning agent. Coal porosity has a greater impact on water-soluble agents than on oil-based products. The authors investigated the pore structure of a variety of coals using mercury intrusion. Findings were related to the effectiveness of freeze-conditioning agents as measured by unconfined compressive strength tests. In general, coals with a large number of very small pores do not respond well to freeze-conditioning chemicals.