Evaluation the Value of Some Petrographic, Physico-Chemical and Geochemical Indicators of Quality of Coal in Paralic Series of the Upper Silesian Coal Basin and Attempt to Find a Correlation Between Them

Abstract

A total of 56 coal seam samples (from active and closed coal mines) representing USCB Paralic Series, were tested. It was determined that the tested coal has low content of mineral matter (especially in Hruśov Beds) as well as of Ag, As, Ba, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Mo, Ni, Rb, Sb, Sn, Sr, V and Zn. Only Mn and Pb content in coal is higher than in coal from other deposits around the world. There are differences in the values of physical and chemical, petrographic and geochemical indices of coal quality, between the northern and the south-western part of the USCB and in the profile of the Paralic Series. Thanks to the revealed correlations between the indices of coal quality, significant differences in the role mineral and organic substance play in concentrating some of the trace elements in the tested coal, were determined. Moreover, it was observed that an increase in the rank of coal (expressed with an increase in the value of R0 or/and Qsdaf or/and Cdaf), accompanies a decrease in the content of oxides of main elements in coal ash as well as sulfur and other trace elements in coal. The dependence was observed both in lateral and stratigraphic differences in the rank of coal. Mutual dependences between the indices of the rank of coal (R0, Cdaf, Qsdaf, Vdaf) in the northern and south-western area of the research and in Poruba Beds and Jaklovec Beds, were confirmed. It was determined that an increase in the value of Roga Index (RI) is accompanied by an increase in P2O5 content in ash of coal from the south-western part of the research area. It is probably a result of concurrence of a regional positive anomaly in the rank of coal and high P2O5 content in coal seams in the south-western part of the USCB. The observed increase in the value of RI, accompanying a decrease in the content of sulfate minerals, Cr and Ni in coal and Na2O in coal ash; results from the role the carbonisation process plays in distributing main and trace elements in the mineral matter of coal.

Distribution of Some Ecotoxic Elements in Fuel and Solid Combustion Residues in Poland

“…In contrast, previous studies on raw coal from the LCB indicate a binding of Ag to a comparable degree to clay minerals and vitrinite [71], and Zn to both organic and mineral raw coal [76]. The binding mode of trace elements in coal is probably differentiated in raw coal within the basin and individual lithostratigraphical series [5,[77][78][79], and even in individual parts of a single coal seam [80,81]. The content and mode of binding of EE in coal feeds is probably different before and different after the removal of mineral matter from the coal feeds at the mineral enrichment plant [30,31,[82][83][84][85][86].…”

Application of Deep Learning in Petrographic Coal Images Segmentation

“…The study of the petrographic structure of coal is important from both a cognitive and a utilitarian point of view [7][8][9][10][11]. It is the petrographic constituents and their individual characteristics and features that are responsible for the property of coal and the way it behaves in various technological processes [7,8,[12][13][14][15].…”

Spatial Macroscale Variability of the Role of Mineral Matter in Concentrating Some Trace Elements in Bituminous Coal in a Coal Basin—A Case Study from the Upper Silesian Coal Basin in Poland

“…The results base collected in 2015 was already partly used for two publications. They are devoted to the search for interrelationships between the petrographic, geochemical, and physic-chemical indicators of coal quality in the Paralic Series [41], forms of mineral matter accumulations in coal, and the distribution of some trace elements in the mineral matter of coal seams in the Limnic Series of the USCB [42]. The need to continue the research undertaken in 1992 results from the supposition that there is still an undocumented range of variability in the way trace elements occur in lithostratigraphic and regional parts of the coal deposit or basin.…”