A new approach for the study of processes at the atomic-molecular level occurring in the current situation in fossil carbonized organics was proposed. A new phenomenological model of physicochemical transformations in a metastable coal substance with the emission of fluids has been developed. The proposed physic/chemical model is based on the genetic connection of coal methane with fossil organic matter and determines the conditions for the activation of structural transformations in coalmines. This model describes the possible options for the coal/gas system development in the current situation. The accumulation of thermal and mechanical energy by coal in the form of structural stresses in an amount, sufficient to activate free-radical reactions, was experimentally established. In the undisturbed coalrock massif the processes of the coal molecular structure transformation have the relaxation character. The result of relaxation of the accumulated energy in the conditions of a gas-saturated coalrock massif is the methane generation by coal. Gas generation in the process of coalification, in its essence, is the energy response of the system to the action of external geomechanical options (temperature and pressure), by the way of releasing the accumulated additional energy with the emission of gaseous products and the destruction of the solid phase in the organic matter of the coal.

The molecular structure of coal is estimated by 13 parameters of infrared spectra, electron paramagnetic resonance, volatile yield and ash content. A new criterion of hydrophobicity is applied, which has shown its informativeness in analyzing the molecular structure of coals of various ranks. It is more sensitive to changes in coal rank than the standard index of volatile yield. The coalification process leads to a significant increase in this index due to the water release and other hydroxyl-containing compounds from the substance of coal. Two-way analysis of variance showed that the influence of the metamorphism factor is significant for 9 molecular parameters. The strongest effects are manifested in the sorption capacity, the criterion of hydrophobicity and the number of paramagnetic centers. The stratigraphic factor does not have a significant impact on one of the molecular parameters. Factor analysis by the method of principal components of the molecular structure of coal showed that the most significant independent factors are metamorphism and sedimentation conditions, the latter ones include independent processes: accumulation of mineral components, decomposition of biomass and geochemical environment during the sedimentation period.

Purpose. To establish the regularities of the influence of magnetic fields on the peculiarities of changing the chemical and structural characteristics of the coal substance according to the size of microparticles enriched with vitrinite. To formulate a new system of views on the mechanisms of structural and functional transformations of coal substance under the influence of weak external fields. Methodology. The authors used an electric furnace heating up to 320 K that creates a pulsation magnetic field with a strength of up to 4,000 A/m to process dispersed samples of hard coal with a weak magnetic field. The methods of infrared spectroscopy and electron paramagnetic resonance were used in the research. Findings. Experimental works were carried out to estimate the impact of weak fields on the state and properties of coal substance. It is shown that weak energy fields, and the electromagnetic one in particular, are able to reduce the energy barriers of reactions in coal substance due to spin-spin interaction, which leads to the activation of processes at the atomic-molecular level and interfacial interaction. Originality.It is experimentallyestablished that for coal micro-particles with sizes from 0.16 to 0.1 m, enriched with vitrinite, the coupling coefficient decreases after exposure to an external magnetic field, and for micro-particles with sizes less than 0.63 m, this indicator increases. Such changes are caused by the redistribution of hydrogen between aromatic and aliphatic components during free-radical reactions. Changes in the spectrum on vitrinite (0.160.10 mm), are more significant than on inertinite (0.063<0.05 mm). At the same time, the external action of the electromagnetic field has caused the opposite consequences. It is shownthat magnetically stimulated chemical reactions occurring in the coal substance are aimed at the recombination of free radicals with active surface states of the organic mass of coal into stable gas molecules. The results of laboratory studies using the methods of electron magnetic resonance and infrared spectroscopy and infrared spectroscopy allow assuming that the changes in structural characteristics recorded during experiments with low-energy impacts can be considered as intermediatorsfor the matter transformation or changes in the state of coal in preparation for structural and functional transformations.For example, to the sorption interaction or destructive processes with methane generation. Practical values.The magnetic field effect can be used to develop new research methods for the study on elementary processes by electron spin resonance; control spin-dependent phase transitions. The use of magnetic resonance methods allows the usage of magnetically field effects in the form of basic tools for the research on structural defects. The results obtained will be a scientific ground for the development of methods for estimating the parameters of electromagnetic processes in coal to develop new technologies for the extraction and processing of hydrocarbon energy carriers.