Macerals

Coals contain both organic and inorganic phases. The latter consist either of minerals such as quartz and clays that may have been brought in by flowing water (or wind activity) or of minerals such as pyrite and marcasite that formed in place (authigenic). Some formed in living plant tissues, and others formed later during peat formation or coalification. Some pyrite (and marcasite) is present in micrometre-sized spheroids called framboids (named for their raspberry-like shape) that formed quite early. Framboids are very difficult to remove by conventional coal-cleaning processes.

By analogy to the term mineral, British botanist Marie C. Stopes proposed in 1935 the term maceral to describe organic constituents present in coals. The word is derived from the Latin macerare, meaning “to macerate.” (Mineral names often end in -ite. The corresponding ending for macerals is -inite.) Maceral nomenclature has been applied differently by some European coal petrologists who studied polished blocks of coal using reflected-light microscopy (their terminology is based on morphology, botanical affinity, and mode of occurrence) and by some North American petrologists who studied very thin slices (thin sections) of coal using transmitted-light microscopy. Various nomenclature systems have been used.

Three major maceral groups are generally recognized: vitrinite, liptinite (formerly called exinite), and inertinite. The vitrinite group is the most abundant, constituting as much as 50 to 90 percent of many North American coals. Vitrinites are derived primarily from cell walls and woody tissues. They show a wide range of reflectance values (how the coal reflects light; discussed below), but in individual samples these values tend to be intermediate compared with those of the other maceral groups. Several varieties are recognized—e.g., telinite (the brighter parts of vitrinite that make up cell walls) and collinite (clear vitrinite that occupies the spaces between cell walls).

The liptinite group makes up 5 to 15 percent of many coals. Liptinites are derived from waxy or resinous plant parts, such as cuticles, spores, and wound resins. Their reflectance values are usually the lowest in an individual sample. Several varieties are recognized, including sporinite (spores are typically preserved as flattened spheroids), cutinite (part of cross sections of leaves, often with crenulated surfaces), and resinite (ovoid and sometimes translucent masses of resin). The liptinites may fluoresce (i.e., luminesce because of absorption of radiation) under ultraviolet light, but with increasing rank their optical properties approach those of the vitrinites, and the two groups become indistinguishable.

The inertinite group makes up 5 to 40 percent of most coals. Their reflectance values are usually the highest in a given sample. The most common inertinite maceral is fusinite, which has a charcoal-like appearance with obvious cell texture. The cells may be either empty or filled with mineral matter, and the cell walls may have been crushed during compaction (bogen texture). Inertinites are derived from strongly altered or degraded plant material that is thought to have been produced during the formation of peat; in particular, charcoal produced by a fire in a peat swamp is preserved as fusinite.

Coal rock types

Coals may be classified on the basis of their macroscopic appearance (generally referred to as coal rock type, lithotype, or kohlentype). Four main types are recognized:

1. Vitrain, which is characterized by a brilliant black lustre and composed primarily of the maceral group vitrinite, which is derived from the woody tissue of large plants. Vitrain is brittle and tends to break into angular fragments; however, thick vitrain layers show conchoidal fractures (that is, curving fractures that resemble the interior of a seashell) when broken. Vitrain occurs in narrow, sometimes markedly uniform, bright bands that are about 3 to 10 mm (about 0.1 to 0.4 inch) thick. Vitrain probably formed under somewhat drier surface conditions than did the lithotypes clarain and durain. On burial, stagnant groundwater prevented the complete decomposition of the woody plant tissues.
2. Clarain, which has an appearance between those of vitrain and durain and is characterized by alternating bright and dull black laminae (thin layers, each commonly less than 1 mm thick). The brightest layers are composed chiefly of the maceral vitrinite and the duller layers of the other maceral groups, liptinite and inertinite. Clarain exhibits a silky lustre less brilliant than that of vitrain. It seems to have originated under conditions that alternated between those in which durain and vitrain formed.
3. Durain, which is characterized by a hard granular texture and composed of the maceral groups liptinite and inertinite as well as relatively large amounts of inorganic minerals. Durain occurs in layers more than 3 to 10 mm (about 0.1 to 0.4 inch) thick, although layers more than 10 cm (about 4 inches) thick have been recognized. Durains are usually dull black to dark gray in colour. Durain is thought to have formed in peat deposits below water level, where only liptinite and inertinite components resisted decomposition and where inorganic minerals accumulated from sedimentation.
4. Fusain, which is commonly found in silky and fibrous lenses that are only millimetres thick and centimetres long. Most fusain is extremely soft and crumbles readily into a fine, sootlike powder that soils the hands. Fusain is composed mainly of fusinite (carbonized woody plant tissue) and semifusinite from the maceral group inertinite, which is rich in carbon and highly reflective. It closely resembles charcoal, both chemically and physically, and is believed to have been formed in peat deposits swept by forest fires, by fungal activity that generated intense heat, or by subsurface oxidation of coal.

Banded and nonbanded coals

The term coal type is employed to distinguish between banded coals and nonbanded coals. Banded coals contain varying amounts of vitrinite and opaque material. They are made up of less than 5 percent anthraxylon (the translucent glossy jet-black material in bituminous coal) that alternates with thin bands of dull coal called attritus. Banded coals include bright coal, which contains more than 80 percent vitrinite, and splint coal, which contains more than 30 percent opaque matter. The nonbanded varieties include boghead coal, which has a high percentage of algal remains, and cannel coal, which has a high percentage of spores in its attritus (that is, pulverized or finely divided matter). The anthraxylon content in nonbanded coals exceeds 5 percent. The usage of all the above terms is quite subjective.

Hydrocarbon content

The oldest coal-classification system was based on criteria of chemical composition. Developed in 1837 by the French chemist Henri-Victor Regnault, it was improved in later systems that classified coals on the basis of their hydrogen and carbon content. However, because the relationships between chemistry and other coal properties are complex, such classifications are rarely used for practical purposes today.

Chemical content and properties

Coal is divided into a number of ranks to help buyers such as electrical utilities assess the calorific value and volatile matter content of each unit of coal they purchase. The most commonly employed systems of classification are those based on analyses that can be performed relatively easily in the laboratory—for example, determining the percentage of volatile matter lost upon heating to about 950 °C (about 1,750 °F) or the amount of heat released during combustion of the coal under standard conditions (see also coal utilization). ASTM International (formerly the American Society for Testing and Materials) assigns ranks to coals on the basis of fixed carbon content, volatile matter content, and calorific value. In addition to the major ranks (lignite, subbituminous, bituminous, and anthracite), each rank may be divided into coal groups such as high-volatile A bituminous coal. These categories differ slightly between countries; however, the ranks are often comparable with respect to moisture, volatile matter content, and heating value. Other designations, such as coking coal and steam coal, have been applied to coals, and they also tend to differ from country to country.

Virtually all classification systems use the percentage of volatile matter present to distinguish coal ranks. In the ASTM classification, high-volatile A bituminous (and higher ranks) are classified on the basis of their volatile matter content. Coals of lower rank are classified primarily on the basis of their heat values, because of their wide ranges in volatile matter content (including moisture). The agglomerating character of a coal refers to its ability to soften and swell when heated and to form cokelike masses that are used in the manufacture of steel. The most suitable coals for agglomerating purposes are in the bituminous rank.

Coal analyses may be presented in the form of “proximate” and “ultimate” analyses, whose analytical conditions are prescribed by organizations such as ASTM. A typical proximate analysis includes the moisture, ash, volatile matter, and fixed carbon contents. (Fixed carbon is the material, other than ash, that does not vaporize when heated in the absence of air. It is usually determined by subtracting the sum of the first three values—moisture, ash, and volatile matter—in weight percent from 100 percent.) It is important for economic reasons to know the moisture and ash contents of a coal because they do not contribute to the heating value of a coal. In most cases ash becomes an undesirable residue and a source of pollution, but for some purposes (e.g., use as a chemical source or for coal liquefaction) the presence of mineral matter may be desirable. Most of the heat value of a coal comes from its volatile matter, excluding moisture, and fixed carbon content. For most coals it is necessary to measure the actual amount of heat released upon combustion (expressed in megajoules per kilogram or British thermal units per pound).

Ultimate analyses are used to determine the carbon, hydrogen, sulfur, nitrogen, ash, oxygen, and moisture contents of a coal. For specific applications, other chemical analyses may be employed. These may involve, for example, identifying the forms of sulfur present. Sulfur may occur in the form of sulfide minerals (pyrite and marcasite), sulfate minerals (gypsum), or organically bound sulfur. In other cases the analyses may involve determining the trace elements present (e.g., mercury, chlorine), which may influence the suitability of a coal for a particular purpose or help to establish methods for reducing environmental pollution and so forth.