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Title: Evaluation of an Automated Reflectance Microscope system for coal characterization. Technical report 18

Abstract

The potential of an Automated Reflectance Microscope (ARM) system to determine the petrographic composition of a coal has been examined. The analysis involves the automatic scanning of a polished coal surface with a reflectance microscope. The reflectivity of consecutive 4-square-micrometer spots on the surface is measured by a photomultiplier tube and recorded by a microcomputer. This study was aimed at making the interpretation of a reflectogram more straightforward, that is, increasing the ability to discriminate among species. Although hardware improvements to decrease the spot size and the error associated with each reading would allow some increase in the ability to discriminate among species, the heterogeneous nature of the surface still limits the qualitative and quantitative information that can be derived from a reflectogram. Therefore a real-time data processing algorithm was implemented during data acquisition to study the effects that processing can have on a reflectogram. By measuring connectivity, it was found that edge readings could be indirectly eliminated. This greatly improved the ability to discriminate among species. Further investigation led to the conclusion that physical particle size has a major effect on a reflectogram. The concentration of coal in a pellet also has an effect on the ability to discriminatemore » among species. A bonus of using processing to enhance the data was the ability to simultaneously gather information on particle size distributions. Based on the results the potential of an ARM system is improved by algorithm enhancement. The processing of the data allows some of the inherent limitations to be reduced.« less

Authors:
;
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park (USA). Coal Research Section
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE
OSTI Identifier:
5383983
Report Number(s):
FE-2030-TR18
DOE Contract Number:  
EX-76-C-01-2030
Resource Type:
Technical Report
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT; COAL; PETROLOGY; MICROSCOPY; DATA PROCESSING; COMPUTER CALCULATIONS; REFLECTIVITY; CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS; ENERGY SOURCES; FOSSIL FUELS; FUELS; GEOLOGY; OPTICAL PROPERTIES; PHYSICAL PROPERTIES; PROCESSING; SURFACE PROPERTIES; 010600* - Coal, Lignite, & Peat- Properties & Composition

Citation Formats

Liscinsky, D. S., and Vastola, F. Evaluation of an Automated Reflectance Microscope system for coal characterization. Technical report 18. United States: N. p., 1980. Web. doi:10.2172/5383983.
Liscinsky, D. S., & Vastola, F. Evaluation of an Automated Reflectance Microscope system for coal characterization. Technical report 18. United States. https://doi.org/10.2172/5383983
Liscinsky, D. S., and Vastola, F. 1980. "Evaluation of an Automated Reflectance Microscope system for coal characterization. Technical report 18". United States. https://doi.org/10.2172/5383983. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/5383983.
@article{osti_5383983,
title = {Evaluation of an Automated Reflectance Microscope system for coal characterization. Technical report 18},
author = {Liscinsky, D. S. and Vastola, F.},
abstractNote = {The potential of an Automated Reflectance Microscope (ARM) system to determine the petrographic composition of a coal has been examined. The analysis involves the automatic scanning of a polished coal surface with a reflectance microscope. The reflectivity of consecutive 4-square-micrometer spots on the surface is measured by a photomultiplier tube and recorded by a microcomputer. This study was aimed at making the interpretation of a reflectogram more straightforward, that is, increasing the ability to discriminate among species. Although hardware improvements to decrease the spot size and the error associated with each reading would allow some increase in the ability to discriminate among species, the heterogeneous nature of the surface still limits the qualitative and quantitative information that can be derived from a reflectogram. Therefore a real-time data processing algorithm was implemented during data acquisition to study the effects that processing can have on a reflectogram. By measuring connectivity, it was found that edge readings could be indirectly eliminated. This greatly improved the ability to discriminate among species. Further investigation led to the conclusion that physical particle size has a major effect on a reflectogram. The concentration of coal in a pellet also has an effect on the ability to discriminate among species. A bonus of using processing to enhance the data was the ability to simultaneously gather information on particle size distributions. Based on the results the potential of an ARM system is improved by algorithm enhancement. The processing of the data allows some of the inherent limitations to be reduced.},
doi = {10.2172/5383983},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/5383983}, journal = {},
number = ,
volume = ,
place = {United States},
year = {Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1980},
month = {Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1980}
}