Photoacoustic microscopy of coal macerals. Annual report Jan-Dec 83

Technical Report · Sun Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1984

OSTI ID:6932818

Johnson, K W; Telschow, K L; Crelling, J C

The overall objective of the project is to develop photoacoustic microscopy as a new, in situ technique for delineating the thermal and chemical properties of coal macerals. This petrographic information is expected to play a role in the characterization of coal for any process where the properties of the coal determine the behavior of the process. To characterize coal properly, both its chemical composition and its thermal properties must be known. Photoacoustic microscopy offers a potentially useful technique for probing the thermal-conductance and thermal-elastic properties of coal macerals. Coupled with the traditional reflectance measurements, which yield information about the optical properties of macerals, photoacoustic microscopy is expected to produce a more comprehensive classification of the properties of macerals. The major result achieved has been the development of a photoacoustic/reflectance microscope capable of obtaining thermal and optical data from the same coal macerals. The data shows that there are significant differences between the thermal properties of vitrinite and pseudovitrinite macerals. The differences are especially prominent for low rank coals, such as Hi-Vol A, and gradually disappear in the higher rank coals beginning with semi-anthracite. It is shown that the photoacoustic data compliments existing reflectance data when used for coal characterization.

• Research Organization: Southern Illinois Univ., Carbondale (USA)
• OSTI ID: 6932818
• Report Number(s): PB-84-179183
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

01 COAL, LIGNITE, AND PEAT
010600* -- Coal
Lignite
& Peat-- Properties & Composition
ACOUSTIC MICROSCOPY
CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS
CHEMICAL COMPOSITION
CHEMICAL PROPERTIES
COAL
COAL GASIFICATION
ENERGY SOURCES
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
GASIFICATION
MACERALS
MATERIALS
MECHANICAL PROPERTIES
MICROSCOPY
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
PETROGRAPHY
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
THERMOCHEMICAL PROCESSES
THERMODYNAMIC PROPERTIES