CHARACTERIZATION

SIGNIFICANT SAVINGS IN COST AND DISPLACEMENT OF VALUABLE PETROLEUM FUEL CAN BE ACHIEVED BY BURNING COAL WHEN APPROPRIATE FOR DOD POWER GENERATION REQUIREMENTS. THIS PROPOSAL OFFERS A COST EFFECTIVE, PORTABLE, COMPUTER CONTROLLED AND INTEGRATED COAL ANALYSIS SYSTEM FOR ASSESSING A COAL'S COMBUSTION PERFORMANCE. THE PROPOSED SYSTEM FOR COAL ANALYSES IS AN INTEGRATED THERMOGRAVIMETER ANALYZER (TGA), EVOLVED GAS ANALYZER (EGA) AND FOURIER TRANSFORM INFRARED SPECTROMETER (FT-IR). THE OVERALL GOAL OF THE PHASE I PROGRAM IS TO DEMONSTRATE THAT AN INTEGRATED TGA/EGA/FT-IR CAN PROVIDE ALL THE DATA REQUIRED TO DETERMINE THE COMBUSTION PERFORMANCE OF COAL SAMPLES. AFR HAS RECENTLY ENTERED INTO AN AGREEMENT WITH A MAJOR INSTRUMENT COMPANY TO DEVELOP AN INSTRUMENT WHICH WOULD BE THE CORE OF THE PROPOSED SYSTEM. IT IS ANTICIPATED THAT PHASE I WILL DEMONSTRATE THE CAPABILITY OF OBTAINING QUANTITATIVE AND REPRODUCIBLE DATA ON A PROTOTYPE TGA/EGA/FT-IR FOR THE FOLLOWING QUANTITIES: PROXIMATE ANALYSIS, ELEMENTAL ANALYSIS, MINERAL COMPOSITION, VOLATILE COMPOSITIONS AND VOLATILE KINETICS. PHASE I WILL FURTHER ASSESS THE FEASIBILITY OF COMPUTING FROM THESE DATA THE IMPORTANT COMBUSTION PARAMETERS INCLUDING: CALORIFIC VALUE, FLAMABILITY INDEX, FREE SWELLING INDEX AND ASH FUSION TEMPERATURE. THE PROGRAM WILL ALSO ASSESS THE FEASIBILITY OF USING THE DATA TO IDENTIFY SIMILAR COALS IN A REFERENCE LIBRARY FOR WHICH ADDITIONAL COMBUSTION PERFORMANCE DATA ARE AVAILABLE.