Laser micropyrolysis of coal macerals. Annual report 1 Oct 81-30 Sep 82

Technical Report · Thu Sep 23 04:00:00 EDT 1982

OSTI ID:6420728

Vastola, F J

A mass analysis of the pyrolysis products, generated by heating selected coal macerals with the focused output of a pulsed ruby laser, is obtained by pyrolyzing a monolithic coal sample in the ionization chamber of a time of flight mass spectrometer. A high speed data acquisition system is used to record 32 spectra during the pyrolysis process (1-4 ms). A high degree of reproducibility can be obtained by averaging sequential spectra. Spectra were obtained for a series of coals of different rank and geographical location. Although unit mass resolution is not obtained, all coals investigated exhibited mass groupings that could be classified into 15 defined mass ranges. The relative intensities and envelope shape of these mass clusters can be used to determine the degree of aromaticity and hydroaromaticity as well as the presence of oxygen groups in the coal macerals.

• Research Organization: Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park (USA). Dept. of Materials Science and Engineering
• OSTI ID: 6420728
• Report Number(s): PB-83-161422
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
010600* -- Coal
Lignite
& Peat-- Properties & Composition
AIR POLLUTION
CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
COAL
COAL RANK
COMBUSTION PRODUCTS
DECOMPOSITION
ENERGY SOURCES
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
MACERALS
MASS SPECTROSCOPY
MATERIALS
POLLUTION
PYROLYSIS
SPECTROSCOPY
STRUCTURAL CHEMICAL ANALYSIS
THERMOCHEMICAL PROCESSES