STUDIES OF THE SPONTANEOUS COMBUSTION OF LOW RANK COALS AND LIGNITES

Spontaneous combustion has always been a problem in coal utilization especially in the storage and transportation of coal. In the United States, approximately 11% of underground coal mine fires are attributed to spontaneous coal combustion. The incidence of such fires is expected to increase with increased consumption of lower rank coals. The cause is usually suspected to be the reabsorption of moisture and oxidation. To understand the mechanisms of spontaneous combustion this study was conducted to (1) define the initial and final products during the low temperature (10 to 60 C) oxidation of coal at different partial pressures of O{sub 2}, (2) determine the rate of oxidation, and (3) measure the reaction enthalpy. The reaction rate (R) and propensity towards spontaneous combustion were evaluated in terms of the initial rate method for the mass gained due to adsorbed O{sub 2}. Equipment that was used consisted of a FT-IR (Fourier Transform-Infrared Spectrometer, Perkin Elmer), an accelerated surface area porosimeter (ASAP, Micromeritics model 2010), thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA, Cahn Microbalance TG 121) and a differential scanning calorimeter (DSC, Q1000, thermal analysis instruments). Their combination yielded data that established a relation between adsorption of oxygen and reaction enthalpy. The head space/ gas chromatograph/ mass spectrometer system (HS/GC/MS) was used to identify volatiles evolved during oxidation. The coal samples used were Beulah lignite and Wyodak (sub-bituminous). Oxygen (O{sub 2}) absorption rates ranged from 0.202 mg O{sub 2}/mg coal hr for coal sample No.20 (Beulah pyrolyzed at 300 C) to 6.05 mg O{sub 2}/mg coal hr for coal sample No.8 (wyodak aged and pyrolyzed at 300 C). Aging of coal followed by pyrolysis was observed to contribute to higher reaction rates. Reaction enthalpies ranged from 0.42 to 1580 kcal/gm/mol O{sub 2}.