Comparison of the structure and reactivity of a Kansk-Achinsk Basin (USSR) coal with those of a Latrobe Valley (Australia) coal

Sampsles of coals from two of the largest brown coal deposits in the world, the Kansk-Achinsk Basin in Siberia, USSR, and the Latrobe Valley in Victoria, Australia, have been studied by a range of spectroscopic and chemical techniques. Three such coals, with similar atomic H/C ratios, show the same reactivity in hydrogenation reactions, but an analysis of the structure of the products from these reactions and spectroscopic measurements on the coals reveal significant differences in their chemical structure. The aliphatic content of the Australian coals is, to a large extent, in the form of long-chain material, loosely retained in a macromolecular, lignin-based polymer, whereas the aliphatic component of the Soviet coal consists of short chains that are much more firmly bound to the aromatic macromolecular network