ABSTRACT
The project Analysis of Enugu Coal was done to determine the
characteristic properties of Enugu Coal with particular emphasis on the
proximate and ultimate analysis.
Coal samples from the Enugu Coal
(Onyeama) mine were obtained and pulverized. The coal sample
(pulverized) was subjected to proximate and ultimate analysis to
determine its characteristic constituents.
Analysis showed a volatile
matter content of 37.46 weight percent, 7.10% moisture content, 8.3%
ash content and 47.14% fixed carbon for proximate.
And, the ultimate analysis showed a 5.2% hydrogen, 63.3% carbon, 0.79% sulphur, 0.8% nitrogen and 28.91% oxygen.
From this, it was reach that Enugu Coal is classified as sub bituminous and therefore is non-coking (low grade fuel).
CHAPTER ONE
1.0 INTRODUCTION
Coal is an amorphous substance
derived by the carbonization of vegetation of prehistoric ages,
containing free carbon and different hydrocarbons and also complex
substance carrying oxygen’s, sulphur and nitrogen, contaminated with
various amounts of mineral matter, such as pyrites, gypsum, lime,
magnesia, silica, soda and potash found in beds or viens in the earth
and used as fuel. It is brittle, compact, massive and sometimes
laminated, and varies in colour from black to brown.
Coal has also
been defined in many ways but perhaps the most explicit definition is
that “coal is a combustible organic rock having its origins in the
accumulation and partial decomposition of vegetation.
Coal is widely
distributed, and reserves of it are sufficient to last hundreds or
thousands of years. It has long been the backbone of industrial life.
Those
countries involved with it have risen commercially and politically,
those lacking it have hostly become agricultural or handicraft nations.
Coal was known in ancient time and in nineteenth century entered house
hold use in England.
By the thirteenth century trade in it was
active. The invention of the stream engine stimulated active coal
mining, and then the industrial age commenced in England, when coal
replaced manpower, and eventually mechanical power held away. When iron
are was smelted by charcoal and the forests of England were ranishing,
it was discovered that anthracite was a smelting fuel. This was another
stimulus to coal mining. Later, when coke was made from bituminous coal,
it was found to be a still superior fuel, the coal industry receive a
great impetus, and huge industrial expansion ensured.
A further
stimulus to the coal industry occurred when cities began to produce
artificial was from coal for domestic and industrial use. It’s high
position, which receded under the competition of oil and gas, is again
coal which is of plant origin, composed highly of carbon with
carbonaceous fuels that differ in the relative amounts of moisture,
volatile matter and fixed carbon deposits were formed from the remains
of vast forest of trees, shrubs and plant which flourished in the hot
and humid climate of 250 to 400 million years ago. These flora died and
rotted and were buried and consolidated under sediments deposited by
encroaching seas. The coal seams so formed lay undisturbed until the
coming of man.
The Chinese are said to have used coal three thousand
years ago, but there is no evidence that other ancient civilization used
it. The Venetian explorer, Marcopolo, records in the account of his
thirteenth century travels through cathana that the natives burned a
black stone dugout of the mountains.
Furthermore, coal is a
combustible organic rock composed principally of consolidated and
chemically altered vegetal remains which undergo geologic process,
working over vast spains of time, compressed and altered decaying plant
material that resulted in an increase of the percentage of carbon with
increasing heat and pressure, different ranks of coal can occurs lignite
(the softest), sub bituminous, bituminous, and anthracite (the
hardest). Upon close examination some coals having bright, shiny bands
of varying thickness which alternate with duller bands, where as other
coals show no banding. The horizontal layering is characteristic of all
sedimentary rocks and reflects the initial accumulation of the organic
rich materials. Bright layers (vitrinite) consist primarily of woody
cell wall materials, while the dull layers (exinite) consist primarily
of the most resistant plant remains, such as spores and cuticles of
leaves and rootlets these organic portions of coal are as the various
types of coalfields plant material. Banded coal are referred to as
attrite or splint coal types, where as the non-banded are cannel and or
boghead coal types. Each has its own characteristics and appearance that
reflect the environment conditions responsible for its formation.
Enugu
coal is sub bituminous type of coal according to the classification of
the American Society of Testing Material (ASTM) this was formed during
the cretaceous period, about 120 million years ago. It is characterized
by high moisture and volatile matter contents, nitrogen and hydrogen,
but low in sulphur content. It has a poor coking property and a fairly
high ash content, but with a fairly high fussion temperature that
prevents clinkering.
The coal has fairly high calorific value and is
good for steam raising as fuel in solid or pulverized form. However,
this does not stand up well on exposure to the atmosphere as it dulls in
appearance and develops some fine cracks after some months, but it does
not decrepitated badly.
The calorific value of the coal (the most
important property of the fuel) can drop by 15% of the original value
under four months in storage, depending on particle size; lower if in
layer lump and considerably higher if in smaller particles.
A number of experiments has been carried out to determine these changes in Enugu coal.
1.1 SCOPE
Indeed any known type of analysis are
so much that they all can conveniently be discussed in this research
work. For this reason, the researcher would have to consider only the
proximate and ultimate analysis of Enugu coal. Though coal was discussed
in general, the write up do not dwell on this area. Efforts were
concentrated only on the analysis above (moisture, ash, volatile and
fixed carbon contents, and hydrogen, sulphur, carbon, oxygen and
nitrogen contents).
It should be noted that the term Enugu coal as used in this work
refers to coal sample obtained from Onyeama coal mine, though it is
known that other proven coal reserves do exist in Enugu.
1.2 LIMITATIONS
sources of information gathering
as regards this work were limited by lack of current materials
concerning this subject (topic). Apart from inadequate textbooks in
libraries that treated this topic, internet sources were only a preamble
where also poor logistic stampeded the retrieval of information from
resourceful places.