A novel method for the measurement of coal swelling in solvents

✍ Scribed by Mark Turpin; Brian Rand; Bryan Ellis

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1996
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 712 KB
• Volume: 75
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0016-2361
• DOI: 10.1016/0016-2361(95)00225-1

✦ Synopsis

A novel method for the measurement of coal swelling in organic solvents, based on the measurement of particle size distributions, is presented. The technique is unusual in that there is a self-diagnostic feature, whereby if any of the assumptions on which the method rests are not fulfilled by a particular sample, this fact becomes apparent when the results are analysed. Two variants of the technique are presented and their application to eight coals is discussed. The methods are critically compared and the tendency of one of the techniques to preferentially measure swelling parallel to the coal deposition plane is identified. This feature of the two methods provides tentative evidence that the swelling ratio of coals is lower in the plane of deposition than perpendicular to it. This effect may indicate a higher degree of cross-linking within the deposition plane, or that the coal strata delaminate to some extent during swelling.