Understanding of How Inertinite Concentrate in Blends Affecting Coke Strength

This project extended the work undertaken in project C25052, including both small and large inertinite particles which (0.25-0.5 mm) were blended with coals at three different ratios, 25%, 50% and 75% to study the mechanism of how inertinite concentrates in blends affect thermo-plasticity. The large particles were blended for preparing coke samples for coke strength and fused carbon analysis.

The same coals, and the same type of coal was used with the addition of one medium rank coal for concentrating inertinite-rich particles. The same techniques in C25052 were employed for experimental tests, reflux classifier for concentrating inertinite-rich particles, Computer Aided Thermal Analysis (CATA) for evaluating swelling and permeability, Dynamic Elemental Thermal Analysis (DETA) for measuring volatile evolution (C&H), Pearson Petrography for fused carbon analysis of cokes and Drop Shatter for testing coke strength. Gieseler Plastometer for fluidity tests was also used as was and Tescan Integrated Mineral Analyzer (TIMA) for attempting to identify if the fusibility of the inertinite concentrates in the blends could be identified by tracing the dispersion of minerals.

The project concluded that when blended with other coals, inertinite concentrate could alter the thermo-plasticity, such as swelling and permeability, critical temperatures, plastic range, and the volatile release of the blends. This alteration is not only related to the nature of the inertinite and the blended coal but also the potential physical and chemical interactions. In turn, the interactions may lead to unexpected volatile release, fluidity, fusibility of the blends and coke porosity, which thus affected coke structure development and coke strength.