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Sample records for paleocene coal-bearing deposits

  1. Timing of the deposition of uppermost Cretaceous and Paleocene coal-bearing deposits in the Greater Glendive area, Montana and North Dakota

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1996-02-01

    With the aid of a grant from the National Geographic Society, a cooperative agreement with the State University of New York at Stony Brook, and contract with the U.S. Department of Energy, Late Cretaceous and Paleocene geologic and paleontologic field studies were undertaken in Makoshika, State Park and vicinity, Dawson County, Montana. This region was chosen as a study area because of its potential for yielding new fossil localities and extensive exposures both above and below the K/T boundary, as suggested by previous research by David W. Krause and Joseph H. Hartman. Related field studies were also undertaken in areas adjacent to the Cedar Creek Anticline in North Dakota. This work was part of ongoing research to document change in the composition of mammalian and molluscan faunas during the Late Cretaceous and Paleocene and to relate observed patterns to floral and invertebrate changes in composition. This study focuses on the record of mammals and mollusks in the Makoshika stratigraphic section and places old and new observations into a paleomagnetic and palynomorph framework. Of particular interest is the appearance and diversification of archaic ungulate mammals. Simultaneous dinosaur extinction with ungulate radiation has been invoked in gradual, as opposed to catastrophic, models of faunal change at the K/T boundary. However, supposed Cretaceous localities bearing archaic ungulates and other mammals of {open_quotes}Paleocene aspect{close_quotes} may be the product of faunal reworking. Elsewhere in the Williston Basin (e.g., Garfield and McCone Counties, Montana), the molluscan record of uppermost Cretaceous and Paleocene strata indicates the extinction of all of the highly sculptured unionid bivalves just prior to the onset of coal swamps and subsequent coal formation.

  2. Depositional conditions of the coal-bearing Hirka Formation beneath ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    This work focuses on the relationship between the coal deposition and explosive volcanism of the Miocene basin, NW central Anatolia, Turkey. The coal-bearing Hirka Formation was deposited over the Galatian Andesitic Complex and/or massive lagoonal environments during the Miocene. The investigated lignite is a high ...

  3. Paleocene coal deposits of the Wilcox group, central Texas

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hook, Robert W.; Warwick, Peter D.; SanFilipo, John R.; Schultz, Adam C.; Nichols, Douglas J.; Swanson, Sharon M.; Warwick, Peter D.; Karlsen, Alexander K.; Merrill, Matthew D.; Valentine, Brett J.

    2011-01-01

    Coal deposits in the Wilcox Group of central Texas have been regarded as the richest coal resources in the Gulf Coastal Plain. Although minable coal beds appear to be less numerous and generally higher in sulfur content (1 percent average, as-received basis; table 1) than Wilcox coal deposits in the Northeast Texas and Louisiana Sabine assessment areas (0.5 and 0.6 percent sulfur, respectively; table 1), net coal thickness in coal zones in central Texas is up to 32 ft thick and more persistent along strike (up to 15 mi) at or near the surface than coals of any other Gulf Coast assessment area. The rank of the coal beds in central Texas is generally lignite (table 1), but some coal ranks as great as subbituminous C have been reported (Mukhopadhyay, 1989). The outcrop of the Wilcox Group in central Texas strikes northeast, extends for approximately 140 mi between the Trinity and Colorado Rivers, and covers parts of Bastrop, Falls, Freestone, Lee, Leon, Limestone, Milam, Navarro, Robertson, and Williamson Counties (Figure 1). Three formations, in ascending order, the Hooper, Simsboro, and Calvert Bluff, are recognized in central Texas (Figure 2). The Wilcox Group is underlain conformably by the Midway Group, a mudstone-dominated marine sequence, and is overlain and scoured locally by the Carrizo Sand, a fluvial unit at the base of the Claiborne Group.

  4. GIS representation of coal-bearing areas in Antarctica

    Science.gov (United States)

    Merrill, Matthew D.

    2016-03-11

    Understanding the distribution of coal-bearing geologic units in Antarctica provides information that can be used in sedimentary, geomorphological, paleontological, and climatological studies. This report is a digital compilation of information on Antarctica’s coal-bearing geologic units found in the literature. It is intended to be used in small-scale spatial geographic information system (GIS) investigations and as a visual aid in the discussion of Antarctica’s coal resources or in other coal-based geologic investigations. Instead of using spatially insignificant point markers to represent large coal-bearing areas, this dataset uses polygons to represent actual coal-bearing lithologic units. Specific locations of coal deposits confirmed from the literature are provided in the attribution for the coal-bearing unit polygons. Coal-sample-location data were used to confirm some reported coal-bearing geology. The age and extent of the coal deposits indicated in the literature were checked against geologic maps ranging from local scale at 1:50,000 to Antarctic continental scale at 1:5,000,000; if satisfactory, the map boundaries were used to generate the polygons for the coal-bearing localities.

  5. Fossil fuel energy resources of Ethiopia: Coal deposits

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wolela, Ahmed [Department of Petroleum Operations, Ministry of Mines and Energy, Kotebe Branch Office, P. O. Box-486, Addis Ababa (Ethiopia)

    2007-11-22

    The gravity of Ethiopian energy problem has initiated studies to explore various energy resources in Ethiopia, one among this is the exploration for coal resources. Studies confirmed the presence of coal deposits in the country. The coal-bearing sediments are distributed in the Inter-Trappean and Pre-Trap volcanic geological settings, and deposited in fluvio-lacustrine and paludal environments in grabens and half-grabens formed by a NNE-SSW and NNW-SSE fault systems. Most significant coal deposits are found in the Inter-Trappean geological setting. The coal and coal-bearing sediments reach a maximum thickness of 4 m and 300 m, respectively. The best coal deposits were hosted in sandstone-coal-shale and mudstone-coal-shale facies. The coal formations of Ethiopia are quite unique in that they are neither comparable to the coal measures of the Permo-Carboniferous Karroo Formation nor to the Late Devonian-Carboniferous of North America or Northwestern Europe. Proximate analysis and calorific value data indicated that the Ethiopian coals fall under lignite to high volatile bituminous coal, and genetically are classified under humic, sapropelic and mixed coal. Vitrinite reflectance studies confirmed 0.3-0.64% Ro values for the studied coals. Palynology studies confirmed that the Ethiopian coal-bearing sediments range in age from Eocene to Miocene. A total of about 297 Mt of coal reserve registered in the country. The coal reserve of the country can be considered as an important alternative source of energy. (author)

  6. Radioecological situation at the 'Karazhyra' coal deposit

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Panin, M.S.; Artamonova, E.N.; Medvedev, P.P.

    2005-01-01

    This paper presents results of the current radiological situation in ground water within the 'Karazhyra' coal deposit. The fulfilled studies have been revealed groundwater contamination with wide variety of anthropogenic radionuclides. Analysis of the current level of radionuclide activity in ground water of the coal deposit allows considering the radionuclides to be not hazardous. Results of many-year observations gave a possibility to quantitatively describe radionuclide content in ground water as well as predict development of water-bearing horizon radiation situation for the near future. (author)

  7. Ore controlling oxidized zonation epigenetic uranium-coal deposits and regularities in lignite transformations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Uspenskij, V.A.; Kulakova, Ya.M.

    1982-01-01

    Complex of analytical methods was used to study epigenetic transformations in uranium-coal ore manifestation. To clarify the principle scheme of oxidized zonation in coals the materials, related to three similar objects were used. When comparing obtained epigenetic column with columns of similar ore objects the principle scheme of oxidized epigenetic zonation for ancient infiltration uranium-coal deposits was specified; general regularities of eignite transformations and characteristics of profile distribution of uranium and accessory metal zonations were revealed. Infiltration processes, proceeded in coal measureses, formed the steady epigenetic oxidized zonation: O - zone of barren unoxidized coals, 1 - zone of ore-bearing unoxidized coals, 2 - zone of weakly ore-bearing oxidized coals, 3 - zone of oxidized terrigenous rocks with zonules of development of yellow and red iron hydroxides. Capacities of some zones and zonules reflect the intensity and duration of ore-forming processes. Distribution of U and accessory elements obeys completely epigenetic zonation. It is assumed, that ancient infiltration uranium-coal deposits formed due to weakly uranium-bearing oxygen-containing waters

  8. GIS Representation of Coal-Bearing Areas in Africa

    Science.gov (United States)

    Merrill, Matthew D.; Tewalt, Susan J.

    2008-01-01

    The African continent contains approximately 5 percent of the world's proven recoverable reserves of coal (World Energy Council, 2007). Energy consumption in Africa is projected to grow at an annual rate of 2.3 percent from 2004 through 2030, while average consumption in first-world nations is expected to rise at 1.4 percent annually (Energy Information Administration, 2007). Coal reserves will undoubtedly continue to be part of Africa's energy portfolio as it grows in the future. A review of academic and industrial literature indicates that 27 nations in Africa contain coal-bearing rock. South Africa accounts for 96 percent of Africa's total proven recoverable coal reserves, ranking it sixth in the world. This report is a digital compilation of information on Africa's coal-bearing geology found in the literature and is intended to be used in small scale spatial investigations in a Geographic Information System (GIS) and as a visual aid for the discussion of Africa's coal resources. Many maps of African coal resources often include points for mine locations or regional scale polygons with generalized borders depicting basin edges. Point locations are detailed but provide no information regarding extent, and generalized polygons do not have sufficient detail. In this dataset, the polygons are representative of the actual coal-bearing lithology both in location and regional extent. Existing U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) digital geology datasets provide the majority of the base geologic polygons. Polygons for the coal-bearing localities were clipped from the base geology that represented the age and extent of the coal deposit as indicated in the literature. Where the 1:5,000,000-scale geology base layer's ages conflicted with those in the publications, polygons were generated directly from the regional African coal maps (1:500,000 scale, approximately) in the published material. In these cases, coal-bearing polygons were clipped to the literature's indicated coal

  9. Geographic information system (GIS) representation of coal-bearing areas in India and Bangladesh

    Science.gov (United States)

    Trippi, Michael H.; Tewalt, Susan J.

    2011-01-01

    Geographic information system (GIS) information may facilitate energy studies, which in turn provide input for energy policy decisions. Prior to this study, no GIS file representing the occurrence of coal-bearing units in India or Bangladesh was known to exist. This Open-File Report contains downloadable shapefiles representing the coalfields of India and Bangladesh and a limited number of chemical and petrographic analyses of India and Bangladesh coal samples. Also included are maps of India and Bangladesh showing the locations of the coalfields and coal samples in the shapefiles, figures summarizing the stratigraphic units in the coalfields of India and Bangladesh, and a brief report summarizing the stratigraphy and geographic locations of coal-bearing deposits in India and Bangladesh.

  10. Latest Paleocene lithologic and biotic events in neritic deposits of southwestern New Jersey

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gibson, Thomas G.; Bybell, Laurel M.; Owens, James P.

    1993-01-01

    In the southwestern New Jersey Coastal Plain, four drill holes contain continuous neritic sedimentation across the Paleocene/Eocene boundary (calcareous nannofossil Zone NP 9/NP 10 boundary). Significant lithologic and biotic changes occur in these strata near the top of the Paleocene. Global warming, increased precipitation, and other oceanographic and climatic events that have been recognized in high-latitude, deep-oceanic deposits of the latest Paleocene also influenced mid-latitude, shallow-marine, and terrestrial environments of the western North Atlantic. The diverse, well-preserved calcareous nannofossil flora that is present throughout the entire New Jersey boundary section accurately places these events within the uppermost part of the upper Paleocene Zone NP 9. Several rapid but gradational changes occur within a 1.1-m interval near the top of Zone NP 9. The changes include (1) a change in lithology from glauconitic quartz sand to clay, (2) a change in clay mineral suites from illite/smectite-dominated to kaolinite-dominated, (3) a change in benthic foraminiferal assemblages to a lower diversity fauna suggestive of low-oxygen environments, (4) a significant increase in planktonic foraminiferal abundance, and (5) an increased species turnover rate in marine calcareous nannofossils. Pollen was sparse in the New Jersey drill holes, but terrestrial sporomorph species in Virginia exhibit increased turnover rates at a correlative level. Foraminiferal assemblages and lithology indicate that relative sea level rose in New Jersey at the same time as these late Paleocene events occurred in late Biochron NP 9. The higher sea levels influenced sediment type and absolute abundance of planktonic foraminifers in the deposits. Above the initial increase of kaolinite in the upper part of Zone NP 9, the kaolinite percentage continues to increase, and the maximum kaolinite value occurs in the uppermost part of Zone NP 9. There are few changes in either the sediments or the

  11. Reservoir characteristics of coal-shale sedimentary sequence in coal-bearing strata and their implications for the accumulation of unconventional gas

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Yang; Zhu, Yanming; Liu, Yu; Chen, Shangbin

    2018-04-01

    Shale gas and coalbed methane (CBM) are both considered unconventional natural gas and are becoming increasingly important energy resources. In coal-bearing strata, coal and shale are vertically adjacent as coal and shale are continuously deposited. Research on the reservoir characteristics of coal-shale sedimentary sequences is important for CBM and coal-bearing shale gas exploration. In this study, a total of 71 samples were collected, including coal samples (total organic carbon (TOC) content >40%), carbonaceous shale samples (TOC content: 6%-10%), and shale samples (TOC content TOC content. Clay and quartz also have a great effect on the porosity of shale samples. According to the FE-SEM image technique, nanoscale pores in the organic matter of coal samples are much more developed compared with shale samples. For shales with low TOC, inorganic minerals provide more pores than organic matter. In addition, TOC content has a positive relationship with methane adsorption capacity, and the adsorption capacity of coal samples is more sensitive than the shale samples to temperature.

  12. The palynology of the Cerrejon Formation (upper Paleocene) of northern Colombia

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jaramillo, C.A.; Pardo-Trujillo, A.; Rueda, M.; Torres, V.; Harrington, G.J.; Mora, G. [Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (United States)

    2007-07-01

    A palynological study of the Cerrejon Formation was conducted in order to date the formation and understand the floristic composition and diversity of a Paleocene tropical site. The Cerrejon Formation outcrops in the Cerrejon Coal Mine, the largest open cast coal mine in the world. Two cores (725 m) were provided by Carbones del Cerrejon LLC for study. Two hundred samples were prepared for palynology, and at least 150 palynomorphs were counted per sample where possible. Several statistical techniques including rarefaction, species accumulation curves, detrended correspondence analysis, and Anosim were used to analyze the floristic composition and diversity of the palynofloras. Palynomorph assemblages indicate that the age of the Cerrejon Formation and the overlying Tabaco Formation is Middle to Late Paleocene (ca. 60-58 Ma). Major structural repetitions were not found in the Cerrejon Formation in the Cerrejon coal mine, and there is little floral variation throughout. The floral composition, diversity, and lithofacies do not change significantly. Lithofacies associations and floral composition indicate deposition fluctuating from an estuarine-influenced coastal plain at the base to a fluvial-influenced coastal plain at the top. There are, however, significant differences in the composition and diversity of coal and siliciclastic samples. Coal palynofloras have fewer morphospecies, and a distinct and more homogeneous floral assemblage compared to assemblages from the intervening sisliciclastic strata, suggesting that tropical swampy environments supported fewer plant species and had a distinct vegetation adapted to permanently wet environments.

  13. New geochronologic and stratigraphic evidence confirms the paleocene age of the dinosaur-bearing ojo alamo sandstone and animas formation in the San Juan Basin, New Mexico and Colorado

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fassett, J.E.

    2009-01-01

    Dinosaur fossils are present in the Paleocene Ojo Alamo Sandstone and Animas Formation in the San Juan Basin, New Mexico, and Colorado. Evidence for the Paleo-cene age of the Ojo Alamo Sandstone includes palynologic and paleomagnetic data. Palynologic data indicate that the entire Ojo Alamo Sandstone, including the lower dinosaur-bearing part, is Paleocene in age. All of the palynomorph-productive rock samples collected from the Ojo Alamo Sandstone at multiple localities lacked Creta-ceous index palynomorphs (except for rare, reworked specimens) and produced Paleocene index palynomorphs. Paleocene palynomorphs have been identified strati-graphically below dinosaur fossils at two separate localities in the Ojo Alamo Sand-stone in the central and southern parts of the basin. The Animas Formation in the Colorado part of the basin also contains dinosaur fossils, and its Paleocene age has been established based on fossil leaves and palynology. Magnetostratigraphy provides independent evidence for the Paleocene age of the Ojo Alamo Sandstone and its dinosaur-bearing beds. Normal-polarity magnetochron C29n (early Paleocene) has been identified in the Ojo Alamo Sandstone at six localities in the southern part of the San Juan Basin. An assemblage of 34 skeletal elements from a single hadrosaur, found in the Ojo Alamo Sandstone in the southern San Juan Basin, provided conclusive evidence that this assemblage could not have been reworked from underlying Cretaceous strata. In addition, geochemical studies of 15 vertebrate bones from the Paleocene Ojo Alamo Sandstone and 15 bone samples from the underlying Kirtland Formation of Late Creta-ceous (Campanian) age show that each sample suite contained distinctly different abundances of uranium and rare-earth elements, indicating that the bones were miner-alized in place soon after burial, and that none of the Paleocene dinosaur bones ana-lyzed had been reworked. ?? U.S. Geological Survey, Public Domain April 2009.

  14. Turtles From an Arkadelphia Formation—Midway Group Lag Deposit (Maastrichtian—Paleocene, Hot Spring County, Arkansas, USA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Martin A. Becker

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available The Arkadelphia Formation—Midway Group (Maastrichtian—Paleocene contact near Malvern, Arkansas preserves a K-Pg boundary assemblage of turtle species consisting of skull, shell, and non-shell postcranial skeletal elements. The Malvern turtles are preserved within a coquina lag deposit that comprises the basalmost Midway Group and also contains an abundance of other reptiles, as well as chondrichthyans, osteichthyans, and invertebrates. This coquina lag deposit records a complex taphonomic history of exhumation and reburial of vertebrate skeletal elements along a dynamic ancestral shoreline in southwestern Arkansas during the late Cretaceous-early Paleocene. Based on stratigraphic occurrence, the Malvern turtle assemblage indicates that these marine reptiles were living at or near the time of the K-Pg mass extinction and represent some of the latest Cretaceous turtles yet recovered from the Gulf Coastal Plain of the United States.

  15. Anastomosing river deposits: palaeoenvironmental control on coal quality and distribution, Northern Karoo Basin

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cairncross, B

    1980-01-01

    Borehole data from an area close to the northern margin of the Karoo Basin 110 m thick coal reveal a bearing succession of the Vryheid Formation overlying Dwyka tillite. The lowermost sediments reflect processes of deglaciation with a complex array of glaciolacustrine, glaciofluvial and alluvial-outwash fan deposits. Above this paraglacial milieu, tundra-type peat bogs developed in inactive areas and account for the two thick basal coal seams (No. 1 and 2 seams). During accumulation of peat which was later to form the extensive No. 2 coal seam, active clastic sedimentation was confined to laterally restricted river channels which incised into the underlying peat. Lateral migration was inhibited by vegetation stabilized river banks and channel deposits are characterized by vertically accreted upward-fining cycles. Channel fill consists of coarse-grinder bedload sediment deposited in anastomosing streams. Flood episodes are marked by widespread, but thin (< 1 m), shale zones that intercalate with the channel sandstones. Both sandstone and shale units are completely enveloped by No. 2 coal seams. This clastic parting influences No. 2 coal seam distribution and ash content. 23 references

  16. Paleocene calcareous nannofossils biostratigraphy from the Sergipe Sub-basin, northeastern Brazil: Implications for this depositional environment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Andrade Oliveira, Geize Carolinne Correia; de Oliveira, Rick Souza; Monte Guerra, Rodrigo; de Lima Filho, Mario Ferreira

    2018-03-01

    This study reports on the biostratigraphy of Paleocene calcareous nannofossils and paleoenvironmental inferences based on five wells drilled on the offshore portion of the Sergipe Sub-basin. Five biostratigraphic zones were defined for the Paleocene in zones of Brazilian continental margin basins N-305, N-307, N-330, N-340 and N-350, and four hiatuses were identified based on the absence of marker species. These hiatuses were interpreted as excavations originated by turbulent to hyperpycnal flows, revealing an important application of biostratigraphy to better understand depositional environments that are often limited by little variation in lithology or low variation in the well log patterns. In Paleoecological terms, the Sergipe Sub-basin, in the Paleocene, experienced geological and environmental events similar to those of other sedimentary basins on the eastern passive continental margin of Brazil, but has a more complete biostratigraphic record of calcareous nannofossils.

  17. A remote coal deposit revisited

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bojesen-Kofoed, Jørgen A.; Kalkreuth, Wolfgang; Petersen, Henrik I.

    2012-01-01

    discovery. The outcrops found in 2009 amount to approximately 8 m of sediment including a coal seam of 2 m thickness. More outcrops and additional coal deposits most certainly are to be found, pending further fieldwork. The deposits are Middle Jurassic, Callovian, in age and were deposited in a floodplain...... environment related to meandering river channels. Spores and pollen in the lower fluvial deposits reflect abundant vegetation of ferns along the river banks. In contrast, a sparse spore and pollen flora in the coals show a mixed vegetation of ferns and gymnosperms. Based on proximate and petrographic analyses...

  18. Postsedimentary Alterations of Coal-bearing Rocks and New Factors Affecting their Quality and Ingredient Composition as Exemplified by the Akhaltsikhe Brown Coal Deposit (Georgia)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Maghalashvili, G.

    2008-01-01

    It has been established that in the case when coal-bearing rocks are represented by bentonitic clays, coal undergoes significant alterations, for the bentonitic clays, as a strong absorbent, absorb from the coal under conditions of natural humidity part of organics (humic acids, gums and other moving composite substances) thus depleting the coal, increasing its ash content and accordingly decreasing its calorific capacity. In this case it is expedient to exploit the coal and ''black'' or organics-saturated rocks selectively. It has also been established that the organics-saturated ''black'' bentonite is an excellent organic and mineral fertilizer that has been tested by the autor in the patented man-made soil. At the same time, in the case of coal briquetting, it may be used as a bonding material. (author)

  19. Evaluating the gas content of coals and isolated maceral concentrates from the Paleocene Guasare Coalfield, Venezuela

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Berbesi, L.A.; Marquez, G.; Martinez, M.; Requena, A.

    2009-01-01

    This work presents the results from evaluating the gases sorbed by coal samples extracted from the Paleocene Guasare Coalfield (Marcelina Formation, northwestern Venezuela), as well as by their distinct maceral concentrates. The aim of this work has been to obtain an initial experimental main value of the gas content per unit weight of high volatile bituminous A coal samples from the open-pit Paso Diablo mine. An additional goal was to study differences in the CH 4 storage ability of the distinct maceral groups forming part of the coal matrix. Both the coal samples and the maceral concentrates were studied by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) in order to determine the temperature to be used in subsequent experiments. On-line analyses of hydrocarbons (C 1 , C 2 , C 3 ) and CO 2 yielded gas concentrations, plus δ 13 C values. Thermogenic gas is prevalent in the Guasare coals with vitrinite reflectance (%R o ) values from 0.65% to 0.88%. The amount of gas retained in the coals and maceral concentrates was measured with a special device that allows determination of the volume of gas sorbed by a solid sample subjected to controlled thermal treatment. The average coalbed gas concentration obtained was 0.51 cm 3 /g. The following list of maceral concentrates shows the relative capacity for the volume of sorbed gas per unit weight: inertinite > low-density vitrinite > liptinite ∼ high-density vitrinite. It is concluded that the gas volumes retained in the distinct maceral concentrates are not controlled by porosity but rather by their microscopic morphology.

  20. Organic petrological and organic geochemical characterisation of the Tertiary coal-bearing sequence of Batu Arang, Selangor, Malaysia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wan Hasiah, Abdullah; Abolins, Peter

    1998-08-01

    The Tertiary coal-bearing sequence at Batu Arang in Selangor, Peninsular Malaysia consists of a sandstone-coal-oil shale facies assemblage. A detailed organic petrological and organic geochemical study was carried out on several organic-rich sediments from this sequence. The oil shales are dominated by Botryococcus-derived telalginite and Pediastrum-derived lamalginite. The coals, hypautochthonous in origin, are mainly duroclarite-type, although other minor microlithotypes also occur. Alginite is not observed in the coals, but other liptinitic constituents are very common, particularly thin-walled cutinite and sporinite. The oil shales and the coals are thermally immature. This immaturity has a considerable influence on the biomarker distributions, particularly so on the triterpanes which are dominated by C 31αβ 22R and C 30ββ compounds. Interestingly, for Tertiary aged sediments of continental origin, the diagnostic biomarker compounds such as 18 α(H)-oleanane and bicadinanes, normally linked to the higher land plant group of angiosperms, are not observed in the samples analysed. Tricyclic terpanes occur only in very low relative abundance or are virtually absent. A clear distinction, however, in the biomarker distributions of the shales and the coals/carbargilite can be made based upon the distribution of C 27-C 29 regular steranes: the shales, with a source input being predominantly planktonic algae, are dominated by 5 α(H),14 α(H),17 α(H) 20R cholestane, while the coals/carbargilites, with a source input consisting mainly of higher plant material, are dominated by 5 α(H),14 α(H),17 α(H) 20R ethyl cholestane. The depositional environment of the Batu Arang coal-bearing sequence is interpreted as varying from an alluvial flood plain peat-swamp to fluvio-lacustrine depositional setting.

  1. Investigation on characterization of Ereen coal deposit

    OpenAIRE

    S. Jargalmaa; B. Purevsuren; Ya. Davaajav; B. Avid; B. Bat-Ulzii; B. Ochirhuyag

    2016-01-01

    The Ereen coal deposit is located 360 km west from Ulaanbaatar and 95 km from Bulgan town. The coal reserve of this deposit is approximately 345.2 million tons. The Ereen coal is used directly for the Erdenet power plant for producing of electricity and heat. The utilization of this coal for gas and liquid product using gasification and pyrolysis is now being considered. The proximate and ultimate analysis show that the Ereen coal is low rank D mark hard coal, which corresponds to subbitumino...

  2. Geology of the Cannonball Formation (Paleocene) in the Williston basin, with reference to uranium potential. Report of investigation No. 57

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cvancara, A.M.

    1976-01-01

    The Paleocene Cannonball Formation is a marine, non-lignitic-bearing clastic sequence in the lower part of the Fort Union Group. It is overlain by the lignite-bearing Tongue River Formation in places and both overlain and underlain by the lignite-bearing Ludlow Formation in places. The Cannonball crops out primarily in southwest-central North Dakota and probably occurs throughout the western one-half of the state. It occurs also in northwestern South Dakota and may extend into parts of Saskatchewan and Manitoba. Poorly consolidated, very fine- to fine-grained, light to medium brownish yellow-weathering sandstone and light gray-weathering, sandy mudstone are the principal types of lithology. Mudstone generally predominates in North Dakota whereas sandstone seems to predominate in South Dakota. Although uranium in the Williston basin has been found almost entirely in lignite and nonmarine carbonaceous rocks, its occurrence in the marine Cannonball Formation is possible. If the Cannonball, Ludlow, Tongue River, and Sentinel Butte Formations are at least partly penecontemporaneous, a variety of depositional environments were in areal juxtaposition during the Paleocene. Streams originating or passing through coastal plain bogs could have carried uranium ions (derived from volcanic materials) to the Cannonball sea where they were deposited syngenetically. Epigenetic uranium may occur in Cannonball mudstones or sandstones that directly underlie the Ludlow Formation, which is known to contain volcanic materials

  3. Origin of discontinuities in coal-bearing strata at Roaring Creek (Basal Pennsylvanian of Indiana)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nelson, W J; Eggert, D L; Dimichele, W A; Stecyk, A C

    1985-05-01

    Basal Pennsylvanian coal-bearing strata exposed along Roaring Creek, west-central Indiana, exhibit extreme lateral discontinuity. Coal seams abruptly change in thickness and elevation; they split, grade into shale, are cut out by channels and disrupted by soft-sediment deformational structures. Initial sediments were laid down by a network of southwest- flowing streams that traversed a deeply channelized upland surface of Mississippian carbonate rocks. Channels aggraded rapidly as uplands were worn down, so the region changed through time from uplands to upper deltaic plain. Local environments included channels, localized point bars, small natural levees and crevasse splays, overbank deposits, and swamps. Differential compaction and subsidence, slumping stream banks, and possibly collapsing sinkholes influenced sedimentation. As a consequence, coals are too discontinuous for economical mining, although they are locally thick and high in quality. 16 references.

  4. Geology and climatic indicators in the Westphalian A New Glasgow formation, Nova Scotia, Canada: implications for the genesis of coal and of sandstone-hosted lead deposits

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chandler, F.W. [Geological Survey of Canada, Ottawa, ON (Canada)

    1998-03-01

    Disagreement exists on whether the early Pennsylvanian climate of the Euramerican coal province was everwet or seasonal. Abundant paleopedological evidence, including calcrete-bearing vertisols, shows that during formation of Westphalian C to Stephanian coals in Nova Scotia, the climate was tropical and seasonal with a pronounced by dry season; but interpretation of Westphalian A-B coal-bearing sequences lacks this form of evidence. Development of calcrete-bearing vertisols in alluvial fan deposits of the Westphalian A New Glasgow formation indicate that a tropical climate with a pronounced dry season was already in force by early Westphalian time. During the dry season, the coal swamps of the early Westphalian Joggins and Springhill Mines formations were fed by groundwater from coeval alluvial fan deposits of the Polly Brook Formation at the basin margin. Sedimentological evidence indicates that, similarly, groundwater flowed northward from the toe of the New Glasgow alluvial fan, but correlative palustrine sediments have not been found on land in the New Glasgow area. The possibility remains of an early Westphalian coalfield associated with the New Glasgow formation to the north under the Northumberland Strait and Gulf of St. Lawrence. Formation of the Yava sandstone-hosted lead deposit in the fluvial Silver Mine Formation of Cape Breton Island, a stratigraphic equivalent of the Cumberland Basin coal swamps, indicates that such deposits can form in fluvial strata deposited under a tropical seasonal climate with a pronounced dry season.

  5. Coal petrology of coal seams from the Leao-Butia Coalfield, Lower Permian of the Parana Basin, Brazil - Implications for coal facies interpretations

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Silva, M.B. [Laboratorio de Oceanografia Geologica, Departamento de Geociencias, Fundacao Universidade Federal do Rio Grande, FURG, Av. Italia km 08, Campus Carreiros, 96201-900, Rio Grande, RS (Brazil); Kalkreuth, W.; Holz, M. [Instituto de Geociencias, UFRGS, Av. Bento Goncalves, 9500 91501-970 Porto Alegre, RS (Brazil)

    2008-02-01

    In the Leao-Butia Coalfield, Rio Grande do Sul the coal seams occur in the Rio Bonito Formation, Guata Group, Tubarao Supergroup of the Parana Basin, Brazil and are of Permian (Artinskian-Kungurian) age. This study is the first detailed investigation on the coal petrographic characterization of the coal-bearing sequence in relation to the depositional settings of the precursor mires, both in terms of whole seam characterization and in-seam variations. The study is based on the analyses of nine coal seams (I2, CI, L4, L3, L2, L1, S3, S2, S1), which were selected from core of borehole D-193, Leao-Butia and represent the entire coal-bearing sequence. The interpretation of coal facies and depositional environment is based on lithotype, maceral and microlithotype analyses using different facies-critical petrographic indices, which were displayed in coal facies diagrams. The seams are characterized by the predominance of dull lithotypes (dull, banded dull). The dullness of the coal is attributed to relatively high mineral matter, inertinite and liptinite contents. The petrographic composition is dominated by vitrinite (28-70 vol.% mmf) and inertinite (> 30 vol.% mmf) groups. Liptinite contents range from 7 to 30 vol.% (mmf) and mineral matter from 4-30 vol.%. Microlithotypes associations are dominated by vitrite, duroclarite, carbominerite and inertite. It is suggested that the observed vertical variations in petrographic characteristics (lithotypes, microlithotypes, macerals, vitrinite reflectance) were controlled by groundwater level fluctuations in the ancient mires due to different accommodation/peat accumulation rates. Correlation of the borehole strata with the general sequence-stratigraphical setting suggests that the alluvial fan system and the coal-bearing mudstone succession are linked to a late transgressive systems tract of sequence 2. Based on average compositional values obtained from coal facies diagrams, a deposition in a limno-telmatic to limnic coal

  6. Organic geochemical investigation and coal-bed methane characteristics of the Guasare coals (Paso Diablo mine, western Venezuela)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Quintero, K.; Martinez, M.; Hackley, P.; Marquez, G.; Garban, G.; Esteves, I.; Escobar, M.

    2011-01-01

    The aim of this work was to carry out a geochemical study of channel samples collected from six coal beds in the Marcelina Formation (Zulia State, western Venezuela) and to determine experimentally the gas content of the coals from the Paso Diablo mine. Organic geochemical analyses by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry and isotopic analyses on-line in coalbed gas samples were performed. The results suggest that the Guasare coals were deposited in a continental environment under highly dysoxic and low salinity conditions. The non-detection of 18??(H)-oleanane does not preclude that the organic facies that gave rise to the coals were dominated by angiosperms. In addition, the presence of the sesquiterpenoid cadalene may indicate the subordinate contribution of gymnosperms (conifers) in the Paleocene Guasare mire. The average coalbed gas content obtained was 0.6 cm3/g. ??13C and D values indicate that thermogenic gas is prevalent in the studied coals. Copyright ?? Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.

  7. Leaching Process of Rare Earth Elements, Gallium and Niobium in a Coal-Bearing Strata-Hosted Rare Metal Deposit—A Case Study from the Late Permian Tuff in the Zhongliangshan Mine, Chongqing

    OpenAIRE

    Jianhua Zou; Heming Tian; Zhen Wang

    2017-01-01

    The tuff, a part of coal-bearing strata, in the Zhongliangshan coal mine, Chongqing, southwestern China, hosts a rare metal deposit enriched in rare earth elements (REE), Ga and Nb. However, the extraction techniques directly related to the recovery of rare metals in coal-bearing strata have been little-studied in the literature. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the extractability of REE, Ga and Nb in the tuff in the Zhongliangshan mine using the alkaline sintering-water immersion-...

  8. Investigation on characterization of Ereen coal deposit

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. Jargalmaa

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available The Ereen coal deposit is located 360 km west from Ulaanbaatar and 95 km from Bulgan town. The coal reserve of this deposit is approximately 345.2 million tons. The Ereen coal is used directly for the Erdenet power plant for producing of electricity and heat. The utilization of this coal for gas and liquid product using gasification and pyrolysis is now being considered. The proximate and ultimate analysis show that the Ereen coal is low rank D mark hard coal, which corresponds to subbituminous coal. The SEM images of initial coal sample have compact solid pieces. The SEM image of carbonized and activated carbon samples are hard material with high developed macro porosity structure. The SEM images of hard residue after thermal dissolution in autoclave characterizes hard pieces with micro porous structure in comparison with activated carbon sample. The results of the thermal dissolution of Ereen coal in tetralin with constant weight ratio between coal and tetralin (1:1.8 at the 450ºC show that 38% of liquid product can be obtained by thermal decomposition of the COM (coal organic matter.Mongolian Journal of Chemistry 16 (42, 2015, 18-21

  9. Spontaneous combustion of the Upper Paleocene Cerrejon Formation coal and generation of clinker in La Guajira Peninsula (Caribbean Region of Colombia)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Quintero, J.A. [Carbones del Cerrejon Limited., Cl. 100 No. 19-54 piso 12, Bogota D.C. (Colombia); Candela, S.A. [ECOPETROL S.A. Edificio Principal Cr. 7 No. 37-65, Bogota D.C. (Colombia); Rios, C.A. [Escuela de Geologia, Universidad Industrial de Santander, Cr 27 Cl 9, Ciudad Universitaria, Bucaramanga (Colombia); Montes, C. [Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Roosvelt Ave., Tupper Building - 401, Balboa, Ancon, Panama (Panama); Uribe, C. [Tubos Moore S.A. Cll 99 No. 57-74, Bogota (Colombia)

    2009-12-01

    Clinker referred here as red and brick-looking burnt rocks found interbedded in the Upper Paleocene Cerrejon Formation is the result of spontaneous and natural combustion of coal seams in the recent geologic past. These rocks have been mapped, measured and characterized in the Cerrejon Coal Mine at La Guajira Peninsula (Colombia). These burnt rocks usually outcrop in irregular patterns as almost tabular bodies up to 100 m thick, thinning and pinching out below ground surface to depths up to 448 m. Mapping revealed that clinker is usually found near deformed zones, either faults or tight folds. Timing of spontaneous combustion seems to predate folding and faulting, but seems to postdate the development of the Cerrejon thrust fault and alluvial fan proceeding from the Perija Range. Clinker covers an area of around 2.9 x 10{sup 6} m{sup 2} with a volume of approximately 1.4 x 10{sup 8} m{sup 3}. The calculation of the amount of heat released through coal burning indicates that complete combustion of 6.4 Mt of 26.4 x 10{sup 6} J/kg coal would yield 17 x 10{sup 13} J. (author)

  10. Normal polarity magnetosubchrons in 24r and the age of the Paleocene-Eocene boundary

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lerbekmo, J.F.; Heaman, L.M.; Baadsgaard, H.; Muehlenbachs, K.; Evans, M.E.; Sweet, A.R. [University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB (Canada)

    2008-07-15

    A late Paleocene to early Eocene sequence of flat-lying continental strata occurs in an area known as Obed Mountain, west-central Alberta. The upper 110 m consist of interbedded fluvial channel sandstones and overbank mudrocks containing five back swamp coal seams. Two coreholes, 3.5 km apart, that extend through the entire coal zone were sampled for magnetostratigraphy and {sup 13}C isotope analysis. Bentonites in the No. 1 (lowest) and No. 5 coal seams and a tuff in the No. 3 coal seam were sampled for U-Pb and (or) Rb-Sr dating of zircon and biotite, respectively. Magnetostratigraphic analysis of 520 samples identified the younger part of chron 25r, the whole of chron 25n and the older half of chron 24r. We find six normal polarity subzones in this part of chron 24r, which we correlate to tiny wiggles 6 to 11 in marine magnetic profiles. Carbon isotope analysis of 14 samples from two cores revealed a negative shift of about 2 parts per thousand peaking near the base of 24r.8r. We interpret this as the carbon isotope excursion (CIE), the base of which is now accepted as defining the Paleocene-Eocene boundary. The thickness of the CIE in the Obed Mountain section implies that it lasted between 210 000 and 254 000 years. Radiometric dates of 58.4 {+-} 0.2, 57.7 {+-} 0.3, and 56.9 {+-} 0.8 Ma are obtained for the No. 1, No. 3, and No. 5 coals, respectively. Combining these with magnetostratigraphy and cyclostratigraphy yields an age of 57.1 {+-} 0.1 Ma for the Paleocene-Eocene boundary.

  11. Paleocene-Eocene warming and biotic response in the epicontinental West Siberian Sea

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Frieling, Joost|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/338017909; Iakovleva, Alina I.; Reichart, Gert Jan|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/165599081; Aleksandrova, Galina N.; Gnibidenko, Zinaida N.; Schouten, Stefan|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/137124929; Sluijs, Appy|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/311474748

    2014-01-01

    We present a Paleocene-Eocene (ca. 60-52 Ma) sea-surface temperature record from sediments deposited in the epicontinental West Siberian Sea. TEX86 paleothermometry indicates long-term late Paleocene (~17 °C ca. 59 Ma) to early Eocene (26 °C at 52 Ma) sea-surface warming, consistent with trends

  12. Coal geology of the Paleocene-Eocene Calvert Bluff Formation (Wilcox Group) and the Eocene Manning Formation (Jackson Group) in east-central Texas; field trip guidebook for the Society for Organic Petrology, Twelfth Annual Meeting, The Woodlands, Texas, August 30, 1995

    Science.gov (United States)

    Warwick, Peter D.; Crowley, Sharon S.

    1995-01-01

    The Jackson and Wilcox Groups of eastern Texas (fig. 1) are the major lignite producing intervals in the Gulf Region. Within these groups, the major lignite-producing formations are the Paleocene-Eocene Calvert Bluff Formation (Wilcox) and the Eocene Manning Formation (Jackson). According to the Keystone Coal Industry Manual (Maclean Hunter Publishing Company, 1994), the Gulf Coast basin produces about 57 million short tons of lignite annually. The state of Texas ranks number 6 in coal production in the United States. Most of the lignite is used for electric power generation in mine-mouth power plant facilities. In recent years, particular interest has been given to lignite quality and the distribution and concentration of about a dozen trace elements that have been identified as potential hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) by the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments. As pointed out by Oman and Finkelman (1994), Gulf Coast lignite deposits have elevated concentrations of many of the HAPs elements (Be, Cd, Co, Cr, Hg, Mn, Se, U) on a as-received gm/mmBtu basis when compared to other United States coal deposits used for fuel in thermo-electric power plants. Although regulations have not yet been established for acceptable emissions of the HAPs elements during coal burning, considerable research effort has been given to the characterization of these elements in coal feed stocks. The general purpose of the present field trip and of the accompanying collection of papers is to investigate how various aspects of east Texas lignite geology might collectively influence the quality of the lignite fuel. We hope that this collection of papers will help future researchers understand the complex, multifaceted interrelations of coal geology, petrology, palynology and coal quality, and that this introduction to the geology of the lignite deposits of east Texas might serve as a stimulus for new ideas to be applied to other coal basins in the U.S. and abroad.

  13. Rock magnetic and geochemical evidence for authigenic magnetite formation via iron reduction in coal-bearing sediments offshore Shimokita Peninsula, Japan (IODP Site C0020)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Phillips, Stephen C.; Johnson, Joel E.; Clyde, William C.; Setera, Jacob B.; Maxbauer, Daniel P.; Severmann, Silke; Riedinger, Natascha

    2017-06-01

    Sediments recovered at Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Site C0020, in a fore-arc basin offshore Shimokita Peninsula, Japan, include numerous coal beds (0.3-7 m thick) that are associated with a transition from a terrestrial to marine depositional environment. Within the primary coal-bearing unit (˜2 km depth below seafloor) there are sharp increases in magnetic susceptibility in close proximity to the coal beds, superimposed on a background of consistently low magnetic susceptibility throughout the remainder of the recovered stratigraphic sequence. We investigate the source of the magnetic susceptibility variability and characterize the dominant magnetic assemblage throughout the entire cored record, using isothermal remanent magnetization (IRM), thermal demagnetization, anhysteretic remanent magnetization (ARM), iron speciation, and iron isotopes. Magnetic mineral assemblages in all samples are dominated by very low-coercivity minerals with unblocking temperatures between 350 and 580°C that are interpreted to be magnetite. Samples with lower unblocking temperatures (300-400°C), higher ARM, higher-frequency dependence, and isotopically heavy δ56Fe across a range of lithologies in the coal-bearing unit (between 1925 and 1995 mbsf) indicate the presence of fine-grained authigenic magnetite. We suggest that iron-reducing bacteria facilitated the production of fine-grained magnetite within the coal-bearing unit during burial and interaction with pore waters. The coal/peat acted as a source of electron donors during burial, mediated by humic acids, to supply iron-reducing bacteria in the surrounding siliciclastic sediments. These results indicate that coal-bearing sediments may play an important role in iron cycling in subsiding peat environments and if buried deeply through time, within the subsequent deep biosphere.

  14. Interplay of salt dynamics, sea-level change and climate on the depositional evolution of a Paleogene economic coal bearing salt rim syncline, Schoeningen, Germany

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Osman, A.; Pollok, L.; Brandes, C.; Winsemann, J. [Leibniz Univ. Hannover (Germany). Inst. fuer Geologie

    2013-08-01

    The Paleogene basin fill (maximum 300 m thick) of the Schoeningen rim syncline in northern Germany is well known for its economic lignitic coal deposits. The fill provides an example of the interaction of basin subsidence, sea-level, and climate changes on depositional environment and gives insight into the development of the coal seams within a sequence stratigraphic context. The rim syncline records thirteen Lower to Middle Eocene coal seams with intervening clastic layers that were deposited during a long-lived transgression of the Central German Estuary, which lasted until the Late Oligocene (Standke, 2008). The previous analysis of the rim syncline fill has primarily focused on coal deposits, their lateral extent and paleo-botanical habitat. In this work, 357 lithologic logs were calibrated to outcrop profiles and integrated with previous studies to provide a facies analysis and sequence stratigraphy interpretation of the syncline fill. This improves understanding of the depositional environments of the lesser-studied clastics that intervene the coals (Osman et al., in review). Four 3{sup rd} order sequences are recorded in the Lower to Middle Eocene basin fill. Sequences 1 and 2 document the interplay of sands and coals within a transgressive estuarine phase. The sands show a regime change from tide- to more wave-dominated estuarine conditions before a turnaround to a regressive deltaic phase. This succession typifies an incised valley fill. However, the accommodation space generated for the initial estuary development is thought to have originated via continual salt withdrawal (Brandes et al. 2012) instead of by incision during relative sea-level fall. The observed tide to wave estuary regime change is linked to increased subsidence rates at 57 Ma that generated a higher tidal prism. As the subsidence rates slowed and the syncline broadened, the tidal prism decreased, leading to the development of more wave-dominated facies. The intervening coal seams

  15. Origin of natural waters and gases within the Upper Carboniferous coal-bearing and autochthonous Miocene strata in South-Western part of the Upper Silesian Coal Basin, Poland

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kotarba, Maciej J.; Pluta, Irena

    2009-01-01

    The molecular and stable isotope compositions of coalbed gases from the Upper Carboniferous strata and natural gases accumulated within the autochthonous Upper Miocene Skawina Formation of the Debowiec-Simoradz gas deposit were determined, as well as the chemical and stable isotope compositions of waters from the Skawina Formation and waters at the top of the Upper Carboniferous strata of the Kaczyce Ridge (the abandoned 'Morcinek' coal mine) in the South-Western part of the Upper Silesian Coal Basin. Two genetic types of natural gases within the Upper Carboniferous coal-bearing strata were identified: thermogenic (CH 4 , small amounts of higher gaseous hydrocarbons, and CO 2 ) and microbial (CH 4 , very small amounts of ethane, and CO 2 ). Thermogenic gases were generated during the bituminous stage of coalification and completed at the end of the Variscan orogeny. Degassing (desorption) of thermogenic gases began at the end of late Carboniferous until the late Miocene time-period and extended to the present-day. This process took place in the Upper Carboniferous strata up to a depth of about 550 m under the sealing Upper Miocene cover. A primary accumulation zone of indigenous, thermogenic gases is present below the degassing zone. Up to 200 m depth from the top of the Upper Carboniferous strata, within the weathered complex, an accumulation zone of secondary, microbial gas occurs. Waters within these strata are mainly of meteoric origin of the infiltration period just before the last sea transgression in the late Miocene and partly of marine origin having migrated from the Upper Miocene strata. Then, both methanogenic archaebacteria and their nutrients were transported by meteoric water into the near-surface Carboniferous strata where the generated microbial CH 4 saturated coal seams. Waters within the Miocene strata of the Debowiec-Simoradz and Zablocie are of marine origin, and natural gases accumulated within autochthonous Miocene strata of the Debowiec

  16. Application of Markov chains-entropy to analysis of depositional environments

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Men Guizhen; Shi Xiaohong; Zhao Shuzhi

    1989-01-01

    The paper systematically and comprehensively discussed application of Markov chains-entropy to analysis of depositional environments of the upper Carboniferous series Taiyuan Formation in Anjialing, Pingshuo open-cast mine, Shanxi. Definite geological meanings were given respectively to calculated values of transition probability matrix, extremity probability matrix, substitution matrix and the entropy. The lithologic successions of coarse-fine-coarse grained layers from bottom upwards in the coal-bearing series made up the general symmetric cyclic patterns. It was suggested that the coal-bearing strata deposited in the coal-forming environment in delta plain-littoral swamps. Quantitative study of cyclic visibility and variation of formation was conducted. The assemblage relation among stratigraphic sequences and the significance of predicting vertical change were emphasized. Results of study showed that overall analysis of Markov chains was an effective method for analysis of depositional environments of coal-bearing strata. 2 refs., 5 figs.

  17. BARZAS DEPOSIT SAPROPELITE COALS: PROSPECTS OF INTEGRATED DEVELOPMENT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    L. V. Kuznetsova

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available The urgency of the problem. Sapropelite coals of the Barzas deposit of Kuzbass are good raw materials for producing liquid fuel, lubricating oils, paraffin, etc. Apart from that, they are enriched with molybdenum, niobium, rubidium, yttrium and titanium. The content of these deposits is higher than the minimal content, which determines the industrial importance of coal as a source of ore raw materials. However, until now, the field is not being developed because of the economic inexpediency and the lack of a solution to the problem of recycling of incineration and semi-coking waste, which have high ash content and a large volume. The purpose of the study: to develop the concept of integrated development of the Barzas sapropelite coal deposit on the basis of creating efficient, environmentally friendly and low-waste production. Research methodology. The analysis of geological and mining conditions of the formation, which is called the Main, the results of its geochemical studies of existing technologies of mining and processing the high-ash solid fuels. The promising areas of their development were also considered. Cluster approach to the development of sapropelite coal deposits. Results. Coal mining at the sites with different geological conditions can be carried out with openly-underground mobile means of mechanization. The First mine field can be developed by the underground way on the development system called “Long poles along the strike”. This can be attained by means of the comprehensive mechanization of the Second mine field. Also, “Long poles along strike, take out the strips by the drop” are combined sections of a mechanized roof support with mobile means of cutting and transportation of coal – the Third mine field. The energy-chemical cluster of the Barzas deposit of sapropelite coals is a complex of the enterprises, which are technologically connected among them. They are concentrated on the same territory, which includes

  18. Dazai super-large uranium-bearing germanium deposit in western Yunnan region metallogenic geological conditions and prospect

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Han Yanrong; Yuan Qingbang; Li Yonghua; Zhang Ling; Dai Jiemin

    1995-05-01

    The Dazai super-large uranium-bearing germanium deposit is located in Bangmai Fault Basin, Western Yunnan, China. The basin basement is migmatitic granite and the cover is miocene coal-bearing clastics, Bangmai Formation. The basin development had undergone faulted rhombus basin forming, synsedimentary structure-developing and up-lifted-denuded stages. Synsedimentary faults had controlled distribution of sedimentary formation and lithofacies, and uranium and germanium mineralization. Germanium ore-bodies occur mainly in master lignite-bed of lower rhythmite. Hosted germanium-lignite is taken as main ore-type. Germanium occurs in vitrinite of lignite in the form of metal-organic complex. The metallogenetic geological conditions of the deposit are that ground preparation is uplift zone-migmatitic granite-fault basin-geothermal anomaly area, rich and thick ore-body is controlled by synsedimentary fault, peat-bog phase is favorable to accumulation for ore-forming elements, and unconformity between overlying cover and underlying basement is a channel-way of mineralizing fluid. A multiperiodic composite, being regarded sedimentation and diagenesis as a major process, uranium and germanium ore deposit has been formed through two mineralization. Four prospecting areas have been forecasted and two deposits have been accordingly discovered again. Technical-economic provableness shows that the deposit is characterized by shallow-buried, rich grade, large scale, easy mining and smelting. (9 figs.)

  19. A spectroscopic comparison of selected Chinese kaolinite, coal bearing kaolinite and halloysite - A mid-infrared and near-infrared study

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cheng, H.F.; Yang, J.; Liu, Q.F.; Zhang, J.S.; Frost, R.L. [Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Qld. (Australia). Faculty of Science & Technology

    2010-11-15

    Mid-infrared (MIR) and near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy have been compared and evaluated for differentiating kaolinite, coal bearing kaolinite and halloysite. Kaolinite, coal bearing kaolinite and halloysite are the three relative abundant minerals of the kaolin group, especially in China. In the MIR spectra, the differences are shown in the 3000-3600 cm{sup -1} between kaolinite and halloysite. It cannot obviously differentiate the kaolinite and halloysite, leaving alone kaolinite and coal bearing kaolinite. However, NIR, together with MIR, gives us the sufficient evidence to differentiate the kaolinite and halloysite, especially kaolinite and coal bearing kaolinite. There are obvious differences between kaolinite and halloysite in all range of their spectra, and they also show some difference between kaolinite and coal bearing kaolinite. Therefore, the reproducibility of measurement, signal to noise ratio and richness of qualitative information should be simultaneously considered for proper selection of a spectroscopic method for mineral analysis.

  20. Mercury stable isotope signatures of world coal deposits and historical coal combustion emissions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sun, Ruoyu; Sonke, Jeroen E; Heimbürger, Lars-Eric; Belkin, Harvey E; Liu, Guijian; Shome, Debasish; Cukrowska, Ewa; Liousse, Catherine; Pokrovsky, Oleg S; Streets, David G

    2014-07-01

    Mercury (Hg) emissions from coal combustion contribute approximately half of anthropogenic Hg emissions to the atmosphere. With the implementation of the first legally binding UNEP treaty aimed at reducing anthropogenic Hg emissions, the identification and traceability of Hg emissions from different countries/regions are critically important. Here, we present a comprehensive world coal Hg stable isotope database including 108 new coal samples from major coal-producing deposits in South Africa, China, Europe, India, Indonesia, Mongolia, former USSR, and the U.S. A 4.7‰ range in δ(202)Hg (-3.9 to 0.8‰) and a 1‰ range in Δ(199)Hg (-0.6 to 0.4‰) are observed. Fourteen (p coal Hg emissions tracing. A revised coal combustion Hg isotope fractionation model is presented, and suggests that gaseous elemental coal Hg emissions are enriched in the heavier Hg isotopes relative to oxidized forms of emitted Hg. The model explains to first order the published δ(202)Hg observations on near-field Hg deposition from a power plant and global scale atmospheric gaseous Hg. Yet, model uncertainties appear too large at present to permit straightforward Hg isotope source identification of atmospheric forms of Hg. Finally, global historical (1850-2008) coal Hg isotope emission curves were modeled and indicate modern-day mean δ(202)Hg and Δ(199)Hg values for bulk coal emissions of -1.2 ± 0.5‰ (1SD) and 0.05 ± 0.06‰ (1SD).

  1. The paleocene in north Africa - Sea-level changes and paleoproductivity in Tunisa, Libya and Egypt using microfossils

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Guasti, E.; Lüning, S.

    2009-01-01

    The Paleocene is a time of warm oceans and generally high sea levels. In North Africa, vast epicontinental seas extended far inside the African continent. In this paper we correlate sea level, primary paleoproductivity and facies distribution of the proximal, carbonate-dominated Paleocene deposits

  2. A spectroscopic comparison of selected Chinese kaolinite, coal bearing kaolinite and halloysite--a mid-infrared and near-infrared study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cheng, Hongfei; Yang, Jing; Liu, Qinfu; Zhang, Jinshan; Frost, Ray L

    2010-11-01

    Mid-infrared (MIR) and near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy have been compared and evaluated for differentiating kaolinite, coal bearing kaolinite and halloysite. Kaolinite, coal bearing kaolinite and halloysite are the three relative abundant minerals of the kaolin group, especially in China. In the MIR spectra, the differences are shown in the 3000-3600 cm⁻¹ between kaolinite and halloysite. It cannot obviously differentiate the kaolinite and halloysite, leaving alone kaolinite and coal bearing kaolinite. However, NIR, together with MIR, gives us the sufficient evidence to differentiate the kaolinite and halloysite, especially kaolinite and coal bearing kaolinite. There are obvious differences between kaolinite and halloysite in all range of their spectra, and they also show some difference between kaolinite and coal bearing kaolinite. Therefore, the reproducibility of measurement, signal to noise ratio and richness of qualitative information should be simultaneously considered for proper selection of a spectroscopic method for mineral analysis. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  3. Executive summary - Geologic assessment of coal in the Gulf of Mexico coastal plain, U.S.A.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Warwick, Peter D.; Warwick, Peter D.; Karlsen, Alexander K.; Merrill, Matthew D.; Valentine, Brett J.

    2011-01-01

    The National Coal Resource Assessment (NCRA) project of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has assessed the quantity and quality of the nation's coal deposits that potentially could be mined during the next few decades. For eight years, geologic, geochemical, and resource information was collected and compiled for the five major coal-producing regions of the United States: the Appalachian Basin, Illinois Basin, Northern Rocky Mountains and Great Plains, Colorado Plateau, and the western part of the Gulf of Mexico Coastal Plain (Gulf Coast) region (Figure 1). In particular, the NCRA assessed resource estimates, compiled coal-quality information, and characterized environmentally sensitive trace elements, such as arsenic and mercury, that are mentioned in the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 1990). The results of the USGS coal assessment efforts may be found at: http://energy.cr.usgs.gov/coal/coal-assessments/index.html and a summary of the results from all assessment areas can be found in Ruppert et al. (2002) and Dennen (2009).Detailed assessments of the major coal-producing areas for the Gulf Coast region along with reviews of the stratigraphy, coal quality, resources, and coalbed methane potential of the Cretaceous, Paleocene, and Eocene coal deposits are presented in this report (Chapters 5-10).

  4. Depositional environments of the Hart coal zone (Paleocene), Willow Bunch Coalfield, southern Saskatchewan, Canada from petrographic, palynological, paleobotanical, mineral and trace element studies

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Potter, J.; Beaton, A.P.; McDougall, W.J.; Nambudiri, E.M.V.; Vigrass, L.W. (University of Regina, SK (Canada). Energy Research Unit)

    1991-12-01

    Coal petrology, palynology, paleobotany and mineralogy of the Hart coal indicate deposition under wet, warm-temperate to subtropical climatic conditions in low-lying backswamps with fluvial channels and locally ponded areas. The coal is dominated by mixed xylitic/attrital lithotypes and by huminite macerals with secondary inertinite macerals and minor liptinite macerals. Good correlation exists between lithotypes and maceral composition. Local and vertical variations in proportions of huminites and inertinites reflect frequent fluctuations in water levels, periodic flooding, desiccation and burning of the peat. Swamps were dominated by {ital Glyptostrobus-Taxodium} forest with {ital Betula-Myrica-Alnus} communities and, locally {ital Laevigatosporites}, which are the dominant contributors to the xylite-rich lithotypes. Attrital lithotypes with abundant {ital Pandanus}, {ital Typha} and {ital Azolla} are consistent with wetter areas of a fluvial environment, including ponds and channels. Trace elements Cr, Cu, Mo, Ni, Si, Ti, U, Se, V, W, K and Th, typically associated with syngenetic minerals kaolinite, calcite and quartz, may have a volcanic source. High concentrations of Na, Ba and Ca found in organic complexes are of secondary origin and probably originate in deep source brines rather than marine surface waters. 55 refs., 11 figs., 5 tabs.

  5. Empirical prediction of ash deposition propensities in coal-fired utilities

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Frandsen, F.

    1997-01-01

    This report contain an outline of some of the ash chemistry indices utilized in the EPREDEPO (Empirical PREdiction of DEPOsition) PC-program, version 1.0 (DEPO10), developed by Flemming Frandsen, The CHEC Research Programme, at the Department of Chemical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark. DEPO10 is a 1st generation FTN77 Fortran PC-programme designed to empirically predict ash deposition propensities in coal-fired utility boilers. Expectational data (empirical basis) from an EPRI-sponsored survey of ash deposition experiences at coal-fired utility boilers, performed by Battelle, have been tested for use on Danish coal chemistry - boiler operational conditions, in this study. (au) 31 refs.

  6. Paleocene-Eocene Sediments Interbedded With Volcanics Within the Lycian Nappes: Faralya Formation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mustafa Şenel

    1991-06-01

    Full Text Available The presumably allochthonous structural units in the Southwestern Turkey between the Menderes massif and Beydağları autochthon are known as the Lycian nappes. Some of these units particularly beneath the ophiolite nappe end up with the Faralya formation of Paleocene-Lutetian age. The striking feature of this formation which includes micrite, clayey micrite, claystone, sandstone and conglomerate, is the presence of basic volcanite interbeds of Eocene age, This volcanite bearing formation exhibits a strong similarity to those of the other formations in Southwestern Turkey most of which include similar basic volcanites. Eocene basic volcanites are also known in the Akseki autochthon to the south of Seydişehir (Geyikdağ unit in broad sense. Similar extensive lateral movements (Eocene mountain building processes developed over the Faralya formation are seen over the volcanite bearing formations to the south of Menderes massif as well as to the north of Isparta angle and the Akseki autochthon. These features indicate that the area between the Menderes massif and Akseki autochthon (Geyikdağ unit reflects common basinal characters in terms of depositional conditions, volcanism and the traces of Eocene mountain building process.

  7. Gondwana basins and their coal resources in Bangladesh

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nehaluddin, M.; Sultan-ul-Islam, M.

    1994-01-01

    Fault bounded five Gondwana basins have been discovered in the north western Bangladesh. Among these basins show considerable amount of coal deposits. The Gondwana rocks are highly formed during the Permo-carboniferous diastrophism and later on acquired dynamic characters. In almost all basins, the Permian rocks overlie the Precambrian basement and underlie either the Tertiary or the Cretaceous sediments, structural, stratigraphic, and depositional history of these basins is more or less similar. The sedimentary sequences are composed of light to dark gray, fine to very coarse grained, sub angular to sub rounded felspathic sandstone, dark grey carbonaceous shale and sandstone, variegated conglomerate and thick coal seams (single seam max. 42.38m). The rocks are often alternated and bear the characteristics of cyclic sedimentation. The depositional environments varied from restricted drainage to open fluvial dominated low to moderate sinuous drainage system. The coal bearing basins were flanked by vegetated and swampy over bank. Age of these coals is suggested to be the late permian. Proved and probable reserves of coal in Jamalganj-Paharpur basin are 670 and 1,460 million metric tons, in Barapukuria basin 303 and 3899 million metric tons; in Barapukuria basin 303 and 389 million metric tons; and in Khalaspir basin 143 and 685 million metric tons respectively. The coal is high volatile, low sulphur, bituminous type. It can be used for different forms of thermal conversion. (author)

  8. Paleocene stratigraphic plays in Uruguay offshore

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Morales, E; Soto, M; Ferro, S; Tomasini, J; De Santa Ana, H; Conti, B.; Veroslavsky, G.

    2012-01-01

    The Uruguayan continental margin offshore evolution is represented by three large mega sequences: pre rift, rift and post rift, which are correlated with other South Atlantic basins. The tectonic and stratigraphic knowledge about the Uruguayan offshore evolution enable a hydrocarbon potential approximation . The mapping of the seismic depositional sequences are covered by deep basins. The methodology used identify the migration of Uruguayan side depo centers such as the stratigraphic plays group in particular a prospective Paleocene sequence

  9. Paleocene-middle Miocene flexural-margin migration of the non marine llanos Foreland basin of Colombia

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bayona, German; Jaramillo, Carlos; Rueda, Milton; Reyes Harker, Andres; Torres, Vladimir

    2007-01-01

    A foreland basin is a dynamic system whose depositional systems migrate in response to changes in tectonic uplift patterns, sedimentary filling processes and isostatic rebound of the lithosphere. The Paleocene-middle Miocene foreland system of the llanos foothills and llanos basin of Colombia includes regional unconformities, abrupt changes in lithology/stacking patterns and flooding surfaces bounding reservoir and seal units. Here we integrate a systematic biostratigraphic study, strata architecture and tectonic subsidence analyses, regional seismic profiles, and provenance data to define the diachronism of such surfaces and to document the direction of migration of foreland depozones. Line a flexural-deformed basin, sandstone composition, rates of accommodation and sediment supply vary across and along the basin. we show how a coeval depositional profile in the llanos foothills-llanos foreland basin consists of lithoranites inter b edded with mudstones (seal rock, supplied from the orogenic front to the west) that correlate craton ward with organic-rich mudstones and coal (source rock), and to amalgamated fluvial-estuarine quartzarenites (reservoir rock, supplied from the craton to the east) adjacent to a sub-aerial fore-bulge (unconformity). This system migrated northward and eastward during the Paleocene, westward during the early-middle Eocene, and eastward during the Oligocene. In the lower-middle Miocene succession of the llanos basin, identification of flooding events indicates a westward encroaching of a shallow-water lacustrine system that covered an eastward-directed fluvial-deltaic system. A similar process has been documented in other basins in Venezuela and Bolivia, indicating the regional extent of such flooding event may be related to the onset of Andean-scale mountain-building processes

  10. Oldest known euarchontan tarsals and affinities of Paleocene Purgatorius to Primates.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chester, Stephen G B; Bloch, Jonathan I; Boyer, Doug M; Clemens, William A

    2015-02-03

    Earliest Paleocene Purgatorius often is regarded as the geologically oldest primate, but it has been known only from fossilized dentitions since it was first described half a century ago. The dentition of Purgatorius is more primitive than those of all known living and fossil primates, leading some researchers to suggest that it lies near the ancestry of all other primates; however, others have questioned its affinities to primates or even to placental mammals. Here we report the first (to our knowledge) nondental remains (tarsal bones) attributed to Purgatorius from the same earliest Paleocene deposits that have yielded numerous fossil dentitions of this poorly known mammal. Three independent phylogenetic analyses that incorporate new data from these fossils support primate affinities of Purgatorius among euarchontan mammals (primates, treeshrews, and colugos). Astragali and calcanei attributed to Purgatorius indicate a mobile ankle typical of arboreal euarchontan mammals generally and of Paleocene and Eocene plesiadapiforms specifically and provide the earliest fossil evidence of arboreality in primates and other euarchontan mammals. Postcranial specializations for arboreality in the earliest primates likely played a key role in the evolutionary success of this mammalian radiation in the Paleocene.

  11. Characterization of Rare Earth Elements in in Clay Deposits Associated with Central Appalachian Coal Seams

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scott, M.; Verba, C.; Falcon, A.; Poston, J.; McKoy, M.

    2017-12-01

    Because of their multiple uses in clean energy technologies, rare earth elements (REE) are critical for national economic and energy security. With no current domestic source, supply remains a major concern for domestic security. Underclay - specifically the layer of stratum beneath a coal bed - is a potentially rich source of REE. This study focuses on the characterization and ion exchange recovery of REE from underclay samples from the Lower Freeport, Middle Kittanning, and Pittsburgh coal seams in West Virginia. Multimodal techniques provided quantitative assessments of REE-bearing mineral phases in select underclays and the influence of organic acid rock treatment on the recovery of REE from both exchangeable and crystalline mineral phases present. All samples are from extensively weathered horizons that contain abundant kaolinite and illite. Total REE concentrations range from 250-450 ppm and all samples have a HREE/LEEE ratio >20%. Rare earth element bearing minerals identified in the clay are monazite, xenotime, florencite, and crandallite. Our selective recovery approach is designed to isolate and recover REE through partial dissolution of the clay matrix and ion exchange rather than dissolution/recovery of phosphate or aluminosilicate bound REE. These results provide a better understanding of coal seam underclay, the affinity of REEs for specific ligands and colloids, and how the rock and ligands respond to different chemical treatments. These processes are important to the development and commercialization of efficient and cost effective methods to extract REE from domestic geologic deposits and recover into salable forms.

  12. Coal depositional models in some tertiary and cretaceous coal fields in the US western interior

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Flores, R M

    1979-12-01

    Detailed stratigraphic and sedimentological studies of the Tertiary Tongue River Member of the Fort Union Formation in the Powder River Basin, Wyoming, and the Cretaceous Blackhawk Formation and Star Point Sandstone in the Wasatch Plateau, Utah, indicate that the depositional environments of coal played a major role in controlling coal thickness, lateral continuity, potential minability, and type of floor and roof rocks. The potentially minable, thick coal beds of the Tongue River Member were primarily formed in long-lived floodbasin backswamps of upper alluvial plain environment. Avulsion of meandering fluvial channels contributed to the erratic lateral extent of coals in this environment. Laterally extensive coals formed in floodbasin backswamps of a lower alluvial plain environment; however, interruption by overbank and crevasse-splay sedimentation produced highly split and merging coal beds. Lacustrine sedimentation common to the lower alluvial plain, similar to the lake-covered lower alluvial valley of the Atchafalaya River Basin, is related to a high-constructive delta. In contrast to these alluvial coals are the deltaic coal deposits of the Blackhawk Formation. The formation consists of three coal populations: upper delta plain, lower delta plain, and back-barrier. Coals of the lower delta plain are thick and laterally extensive, in contrast to those of the upper delta plain and back-barrier, which contain abundant, very thin and laterally discontinuous carbonaceous shale partings. The reworking of the delta-front sediments of the Star Point Sandstone suggests that the Blackhawk-Star Point delta was a high-destructive system. 1 figure, 1 table.

  13. Preliminary Result of Geophysical Some Studieson the Nariinsukhait Coal Deposit

    Science.gov (United States)

    Norov, B.; Purevjav, N.; Roy, D. K., Sr.

    2017-12-01

    Nariinsukhait coal deposit has a strategic importance on Mongolian national economic development. The deposit is located in Gurvan-tes of the Umnu-gobi province, as 849 km south-west away from Ulaanbaatar. The deposit in geographically, belongs to Gobi Altai region region of the Altai mountain region. The area contains Permian, Cretaceous, Jurassic, Triassic age of sediments. Sediments are red or sedimentary cover on some part of area (Minjin. Ch., Batnyam. D., Rentsendorj. S (Baatarkhuyag. A., Altantsetseg. D., 2015). The coal deposit is located in the center portion of the Nariinsukhait basin. The age of coal hosted sedimentary rock is Jurassic estimated by Paleo-botanic methodology, using examination of a total 59 kind of plants, 288 pollen grains (Baatarkhuyag. A., Altantsetseg. D., 2015). The thickness of coal hosted sedimentary sequence is approximately 1105.5m and named as Orgilohbulag formation. In case of geophysical exploration, preliminary interpretation of the coal basin has been done by 3 geophysical methodologies which commonly applying during exploration stage of coal. The interpretations are given below. Natural Gamma Sonde /NGRS 4140/: use to determine natural gamma activation on rock by radionuclides content (238U; 235U; 232Th; 40K). During measurements well contrasted coal bedding and, value indicate between 0-15cps. And depending on the rock type it has been changed, in case of siltstone, argillite, conglomerate value fluctuated between 15-40cps. However, those rocks natural gamma values are difference little, therefore not showing much contrast between rock types. Formation Density Sonde Version B /FDSB 4036/: The Nariinsukhait coal deposit Open holes and protective pipes of density is 0.5-1.5 g/cm3, 1.2-2.3 g/cm3 respectively. Not well contrasted during measurement due to some of sedimentary rock density range is so low as such sandstone, siltstone, and conglomerate. Therefore, applied resistivity methodology and done interpretation. DLL3

  14. COAL-FIRED UTILITY BOILERS: SOLVING ASH DEPOSITION PROBLEMS; TOPICAL

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Christopher J. Zygarlicke; Donald P. McCollor; Steven A. Benson; Jay R. Gunderson

    2001-01-01

    The accumulation of slagging and fouling ash deposits in utility boilers has been a source of aggravation for coal-fired boiler operators for over a century. Many new developments in analytical, modeling, and combustion testing methods in the past 20 years have made it possible to identify root causes of ash deposition. A concise and comprehensive guidelines document has been assembled for solving ash deposition as related to coal-fired utility boilers. While this report accurately captures the current state of knowledge in ash deposition, note that substantial research and development is under way to more completely understand and mitigate slagging and fouling. Thus, while comprehensive, this document carries the title ''interim,'' with the idea that future work will provide additional insight. Primary target audiences include utility operators and engineers who face plant inefficiencies and significant operational and maintenance costs that are associated with ash deposition problems. Pulverized and cyclone-fired coal boilers are addressed specifically, although many of the diagnostics and solutions apply to other boiler types. Logic diagrams, ash deposit types, and boiler symptoms of ash deposition are used to aid the user in identifying an ash deposition problem, diagnosing and verifying root causes, determining remedial measures to alleviate or eliminate the problem, and then monitoring the situation to verify that the problem has been solved. In addition to a step-by-step method for identifying and remediating ash deposition problems, this guideline document (Appendix A) provides descriptions of analytical techniques for diagnostic testing and gives extensive fundamental and practical literature references and addresses of organizations that can provide help in alleviating ash deposition problems

  15. Economic evaluation of coal deposits. Ekonomicheskaya otsenka ugolinykh mestorozhdenii

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Raikhel' , B L

    1979-01-01

    A presentation is made of theoretical problems, methods, and criteria for the economic evaluation of coal deposits. An examination is made of factors which influence the formation of magnitudes that are utilized in economic evaluations as well as problems whose solution requires the consideration of the economic evaluation of coal deposits (evaluation of useful mineral losses, substantiation for the extraction of reserves under various conditions, sectioning off reserves to an operating mine, the completeness of reserve extraction, and technico-economic substantiation for quality). Extensive experience in planning is summarized and data are illustrated by examples. The book is intended for engineering-technical personnel of enterprises, organizations, planning, and scientific-research institutes of the coal industry as well as geological organizations. 29 references, 27 tables.

  16. Characterization of Coal Quality Based On Ash Content From M2 Coal-Seam Group, Muara Enim Formation, South Sumatra Basin

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Frillia Putri Nasution

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available Muara Enim Formation is well known as coal-bearing formation in South Sumatra Basin. As coal-bearing formation, this formation was subjects of many integrated study. Muara Enim Formation can be divided into four coal-seam group, M1, M2, M3, and M4. The M2 group comprising of Petai (C, Suban (B, Lower Mangus (A2, and Upper Mangus (A1. Depositional environments of Group M2 is transitional lower delta plain with sub-depositional are crevasse splay and distributary channel. The differentiation of both sub-depositional environments can be caused the quality of coal deposit. One of quality aspects is ash content. This research conducted hopefully can give better understanding of relationship between depositional environments to ash content. Group M2 on research area were found only Seam C, Seam B, and Seam A2, that has distribution from north to central so long as 1400 m. Coal-seam thickness C ranged between 3.25-9.25 m, Seam B range 7.54-13.43 m, and Seam C range 1.53-8.37 m, where all of coal-seams thickening on the central part and thinning-splitting to northern part and southern part. The ash content is formed from burning coal residue material. Ash contents on coal seam caused by organic and inorganic compound which resulted from mixing modified material on surrounded when transportation, sedimentation, and coalification process. There are 27 sample, consists of 9 sample from Seam C, 8 sample from Seam B, and 10 sample from Seam A2. Space grid of sampling is 100-150 m. Ash content influenced by many factors, but in research area, main factor is existence of inorganic parting. Average ash content of Seam C is 6,04%, Seam B is 5,05%, and Seam A2 is 3,8%. Low ash content influenced by settle environment with minor detrital material. High ash content caused by oxidation and erosional process when coalification process. Ash content on coal in research area originated from detritus material carried by channel system into brackish area or originated

  17. Paleocene decapod Crustacea from northeastern Mexico: Additions to biostratigraphy and diversity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martínez-Díaz, José Luis; Aguillón-Martínez, Martha Carolina; Luque, Javier; Vega, Francisco J.

    2017-03-01

    New decapod specimens from mid-Paleocene shallow marine deposits of NE Mexico represents an important addition to the diversity, paleobiogeography and evolution of the Crustacea record. In this work, we describe additions to the decapod assemblage from the Paleocene (Selandian) Rancho Nuevo Formation (Difunta Group, Parras Basin, Coahuila). Due to the evident size differences with other decapod assemblages, we compare the new assemblage with those from the Lower Paleocene (Danian) Mexia Clay Member of the Wills Point Formation, Texas, and the Lower Eocene (Ypresian) El Bosque Formation in Chiapas. Species reported from the mid-Paleocene (Selandian) assemblage of the Porters Creek Formation (Alabama), are correlatable to the decapod species from NE Mexico in age, size and systematic composition. The erymid lobster Enoploclytia gardnerae (Rathbun, 1935) is represented by several carapaces and chelae remains. One isolated palm of Callianassidae is included. Numerous carapaces of Linuparus wilcoxensis Rathbun, 1935 are described, representing the most abundant lobster. A new record for the raninid Notopoides sp., and presence of Quasilaeviranina sp. cf. arzignagnensis and Quasilaeviranina ovalis are here reported. New raninids, Claudioranina latacantha sp. nov. and Claudioranina sp. (Cyrtorhininae) are also part of this assemblage. Paraverrucoides alabamensis (Rathbun, 1935), and Tehuacana americana (Rathbun, 1935) are represented by several carapaces exhibiting intraspecific morphological variation. Different sizes among the Early and Middle Paleocene and Early Eocene decapod populations suggests a possible effect of variation in seawater temperatures and/or a Lilliput effect after the K/Pg event.

  18. Quality of Coal in the Deposit Kongora - Tomislavgrad

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zivkovic, S.; Nuic, J.; Krasic, D.

    1998-01-01

    The document accepted in Kyoto, signed by the republic of Croatia, oblige the signatory countries in view of the Agreement on reducing emissions of noxious gases. These obligations burden the development of the energy sector by high technological requirements which will make energy even more expensive. The basic part of the energy system constitute fossil fuel driven thermal power plants (presently found less hazardous than the nuclear option). The commitment of the republic of Croatia to build up a basic thermal energy system in the years to come has initiated a series of discussions on energy sources, i.e. on the choice of fossil fuels. Possibilities have been studied as regards the import of gas (Siberia, Algeria), coal (Australia, the USA, Colombia, etc.), while at the same time neglecting the resources in immediate vicinity. Major coal deposits in the Dalmatian hinterland (Bosnia and Herzegovina), 70km from the Adriatic coast, deserve the attention of experts and scientists in surveying energy potential, particularly as it is a question of the low caloric value coal with scant sulphur (under 1 percent). So far the experiences are favourable and point to the coal deposit Kongora as a possible energy potential. (author)

  19. Impact of Sulphur Content on Coal Quality at Delta Plain Depositional Environment: Case study in Geramat District, Lahat Regency, South Sumatra

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Siska Linda Sari

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available The research was conducted in Geramat District of Lahat Regency, South Sumatra. An evaluation of the geological condition of the research area shown that the coal deposits were found in Muara Enim Formation as a coal-bearing formation. The method used was literature study, field observation and the laboratory work includes proximate and petrography analysis. The aim of this research is to determine the environmental condition of coal based on the change of total sulphur content and to know the relation between ash content to calorific value.  As the result of proximate analysis conducted on five samples of coal, the research area obtained total sulphur (0,21-1,54% adb, ash content (3,16 - 71,11% adb and gross calorific value (953 - 5676 cal/g. adb. Based on the result of maceral analysis showed the maceral percentage of coal in research area composed by vitrinite (77,8-87,4 %, liptinite (0,6 %, inertinite (8,0 – 17,6 % and mineral matter concentration in the form of pyrite (1,6-4,6 %. The average reflectance value of vitrinite (Rv of coal in the research area (0.54%. the results analysis shows that the coal in Muara Enim Formation on the research area is in the transitional lower delta plain depositional environment phase. Any changes in the sedimentary environment affected by sea water will be followed by changes in total sulphur and the higher ash content, on the contrary, the lower calorific value of the coal.

  20. Contamination of settling ponds and rivers as a result of discharge of radium-bearing waters from Polish coal mines.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chalupnik, S; Michalik, B; Wysocka, M; Skubacz, K; Mielnikow, A

    2001-01-01

    Saline waters from underground coal mines in Poland often contain natural radioactive isotopes, mainly 226Ra from the uranium decay series and 228Ra from the thorium series. Approximately 40% of the total amount of radium remains underground as radioactive deposits, but 225 MBq of 226Ra and 400 MBq of 228Ra are released daily into the rivers along with the other mine effluents from all Polish coal mines. Technical measures such as inducing the precipitation of radium in gobs, decreasing the amount of meteoric inflow water into underground workings, etc. have been undertaken in several coal mines, and as a result of these measures, the total amount of radium released to the surface waters has diminished by about 60% during the last 5-6 years. Mine water can have a severe impact on the natural environment, mainly due to its salinity. However, associated high levels of radium concentration in river waters, bottom sediments and vegetation have also been observed. Sometimes radium concentrations in rivers exceed 0.7 kBq/m3, which is the permitted level for waste waters under Polish law. The extensive investigations described here were carried out for all coal mines and on this basis the total radium balance in the effluents has been calculated. Measurements in the vicinity of mine settling ponds and in rivers have given us an opportunity to study radium behaviour in river waters and to assess the degree of contamination. Solid waste materials with enhanced natural radioactivity have been produced in huge amounts in the power and coal industries in Poland. As a result of the combustion of coal in power plants, low-radioactive waste materials are produced, with 226Ra concentration seldom exceeding a few hundreds of Bq/kg. A different situation is observed in coal mines, where, as a result of precipitation of radium from radium-bearing waters, highly radioactive deposits are formed. Sometimes the radioactivity of such materials is extremely high; precipitates from coal

  1. Fouling deposition characteristic by variation of coal particle size and deposition temperature in DTF (Drop Tube Furnace)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Namkung, Hueon; Jeon, Youngshin; Kim, Hyungtaek [Ajou Univ., Suwon (Korea, Republic of). Div. of Energy Systems Research; Xu, Li-hua [IAE, Suwon (Korea, Republic of). Plant Engineering Center

    2013-07-01

    One of the major operation obstacles in gasification process is ash deposition phenomenon. In this investigation, experiment was carried out to examine coal fouling characteristics using a laminar DTF (Drop Tube Furnace) with variation of operating condition such as different coal size, and probe surface temperature. Four different samples of pulverized coal were injected into DTF under various conditions. The ash particles are deposited on probe by impacting and agglomerating action. Fouling grains are made of eutectic compound, which is made by reacting with acid minerals and alkali minerals, in EPMA (Electron Probe Micro-Analysis). And agglomeration area of fouling at top layer is wide more than it of middle and bottom layer. The major mineral factors of fouling phenomenon are Fe, Ca, and Mg. The deposition quantity of fouling increases with increasing particle size, high alkali mineral (Fe, Ca, and Mg) contents, and ash deposition temperature.

  2. Research of Heating Rates Influence on Layer Coal Gasification of Krasnogorsky And Borodinsky Coal Deposit

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jankovskiy Stanislav

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Experimental research of heating rate influence on coal samples gasification process of Krasnogorsky and Borodinsky coal deposit ranks A and 2B was done to define optimal heating mode in high intensification of dispersal of inflammable gases conditions. Abundance ratio of carbon monoxide and nitrogen monoxide, water vapor, carbon dioxide at four values of heating rate within the range of 5 to 30 K/min. with further definition of optimal heating rate of coals was stated.

  3. Economic aspects of coal deposits exploration of the Ulug-Khem basin (Tuva

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lebedev V.I.

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available in accordance with the article, 11 deposits coal on the territory of Tuva are accounted by State Reserves Register of the Russian Federation, the total profitable reserves are estimated at 1,12 billion tons whereof 936.6 thousand tons are dealt with as coking coals. The vast majority of explored deposits of coals of the republic are concentrated in the Ulugh-Khem basin, the total projected resources of which exceed 20 bill.t. It is substantiated that coking coal of the Ulugh-Khem basin is the most competitive resource of Tyva Republic. Low ash content, excellent caking index, low sulfur and phosphorus in coking coal of ranks GG and GZh indicate their high quality, according to these characteristics GG, GZh coal ranks take precedence over Kuznetsk and Pechora coals. About 70 bill.t of coking coal are annually mined in Russia, but there is a deficit on certain coal ranks. It is primarily related to internal prices increase for coking coal in Russia. According to forecasts of researchers coal deficit will rise up to 15–17 bill.t in the country.

  4. Characterization of a coal tailing deposit for zero waste mine in the Brazilian coal field of Santa Catarina

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Amaral Filho, J.R.; Schneider, I.A.H.; Tubino, R.M.C.; Brum de, I.A.S.; Miltzarek, G.; Sampaio, C.H.

    2010-01-01

    Coal tailings deposits in Brazil are occupying large areas of land while also generating acid mine drainage (AMD) that includes heavy metals. This paper described an analytical study of a typical coal tailings deposit. The study objective was to separate low density, intermediate density, and high density fractions for future reuse. Particle size analysis, disymmetric studies, X-ray diffraction, and tests conducted to determine ash, total sulphur, and acid bases were conducted in order to characterize the coal tailings samples. Results of the study demonstrated a size distribution of 67 percent coarse, 14 percent fine, and 19 percent ultra-fine particles. The gravimetric concentration method was used to recover 34.2 percent of the total deposit for future energy use. Approximately 9.2 percent of the remaining deposit was a pyrite concentrate. The acid generating potential of the remaining materials was reduced by approximately 60 percent. 9 refs., 1 tab., 2 figs.

  5. Hydrogeochemical characteristics of groundwater in the coal-bearing aquifer of the Wugou coal mine, northern Anhui Province, China

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Song; Gui, Herong

    2017-07-01

    Major ions, trace elements, and isotope concentrations were measured in 11 representative groundwater samples that were collected from a series of aquifers in the Wugou coal mine, Anhui Province. The geochemical characteristics of the groundwater samples were examined using conventional graphical and multivariate statistical approaches, and the results showed that almost all of the groundwater samples collected from the coal-bearing aquifer were the Na-SO4 type, whereas the samples from the Quaternary and the limestone aquifer were the Ca-SO4 and Na-Cl types, respectively. The groundwater in the study area is not suitable for drinking without treatment because of the higher values of total dissolved solids and other parameters, whereas the lower value of the sodium adsorption ratio indicates that it can be used for irrigation. The total rare earth element concentrations ranged from 0.0398 to 0.1874 mg/L, and had an average of 0.075 mg/L. There were negative cerium and positive europium anomalies in the groundwater. The δD and δ 18O values in groundwater ranged from -9.01 to -8.81 ‰, and from -74.7 to -71.4 ‰, respectively. Meteoric water with variable degrees of evaporation is the main source of the groundwater in the coal-bearing aquifer.

  6. Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum and the Opening of the Northeast Atlantic

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Storey, Michael; Duncan, Robert A.; Swisher, III, Carl C.

    2007-01-01

    The Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum (PETM) has been attributed to a sudden release of carbon dioxide and/or methane. 40Ar/39Ar age determinations show that the Danish Ash-17 deposit, which overlies the PETM by about 450,000 years in the Atlantic, and the Skraenterne Formation Tuff, representing ...

  7. Coal characteristics from 'Priskupshtina' deposit and technological parameters for briquetting (Macedonia)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Damjanovski, Dragan

    1998-01-01

    The use of small class coal as well as the lack of formed fuel needed for the industry and for the consumer goods has been a long lasting problem, and a challenge for the researchers of the Republic of Macedonia. For that purpose, all-inclusive analysis of the quality of the coals in Macedonia, their reserves and technical characteristics, as well as analysis of the petrographic structure were made. Classification of the deposits and the research for the possibility of making briquettes was done, too. Laboratory investigations in the coal deposit 'Priskupshtina' were carried out. The analysis of the coal briquetting show that the expected results in coordination with the required standards were not obtained. Spatially the results from the coal calorific value, its hardness and atmospheric resistance. Standard methods were used for the researches without connective means and the achieved results were mutually correlated. Technical-economic verification is necessary in the further process. (Author)

  8. Low-rank coal study : national needs for resource development. Volume 2. Resource characterization

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1980-11-01

    Comprehensive data are presented on the quantity, quality, and distribution of low-rank coal (subbituminous and lignite) deposits in the United States. The major lignite-bearing areas are the Fort Union Region and the Gulf Lignite Region, with the predominant strippable reserves being in the states of North Dakota, Montana, and Texas. The largest subbituminous coal deposits are in the Powder River Region of Montana and Wyoming, The San Juan Basin of New Mexico, and in Northern Alaska. For each of the low-rank coal-bearing regions, descriptions are provided of the geology; strippable reserves; active and planned mines; classification of identified resources by depth, seam thickness, sulfur content, and ash content; overburden characteristics; aquifers; and coal properties and characteristics. Low-rank coals are distinguished from bituminous coals by unique chemical and physical properties that affect their behavior in extraction, utilization, or conversion processes. The most characteristic properties of the organic fraction of low-rank coals are the high inherent moisture and oxygen contents, and the correspondingly low heating value. Mineral matter (ash) contents and compositions of all coals are highly variable; however, low-rank coals tend to have a higher proportion of the alkali components CaO, MgO, and Na/sub 2/O. About 90% of the reserve base of US low-rank coal has less than one percent sulfur. Water resources in the major low-rank coal-bearing regions tend to have highly seasonal availabilities. Some areas appear to have ample water resources to support major new coal projects; in other areas such as Texas, water supplies may be constraining factor on development.

  9. Depositional controls on coal distribution and quality in the Eocene Brunner Coal Measures, Buller Coalfield, South Island, New Zealand

    Science.gov (United States)

    Flores, R.M.; Sykes, R.

    1996-01-01

    The Buller Coalfield on the West Coast of the South Island, New Zealand, contains the Eocene Brunner Coal Measures. The coal measures unconformably overlie Paleozoic-Cretaceous basement rocks and are conformably overlain by, and laterally interfinger with, the Eocene marine Kaiata Formation. This study examines the lithofacies frameworks of the coal measures in order to interpret their depositional environments. The lower part of the coal measures is dominated by conglomeratic lithofacies that rest on a basal erosional surface and thicken in paleovalleys incised into an undulating peneplain surface. These lithofacies are overlain by sandstone, mudstone and organic-rich lithofacies of the upper part of the coal measures. The main coal seam of the organic-rich lithofacies is thick (10-20 m), extensive, locally split, and locally absent. This seam and associated coal seams in the Buller Coalfield are of low- to high-volatile bituminous rank (vitrinite reflectance between 0.65% and 1.75%). The main seam contains a variable percentage of ash and sulphur. These values are related to the thickening and areal distribution of the seam, which in turn, were controlled by the nature of clastic deposition and peat-forming mire systems, marine transgression and local tidal incursion. The conglomeratic lithofacies represent deposits of trunk and tributary braided streams that rapidly aggraded incised paleovalleys during sea-level stillstands. The main seam represents a deposit of raised mires that initially developed as topogenous mires on abandoned margins of inactive braidbelts. Peat accumulated in mires as a response to a rise in the water table, probably initially due to gradual sea-level rise and climate, and the resulting raised topography served as protection from floods. The upper part of the coal measures consists of sandstone lithofacies of flu vial origin and bioturbated sandstone, mudstone and organic-rich lithofacies, which represent deposits of paralic (deltaic

  10. Carbonaceous matter in the Pomozhan deposit

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Piatek, G

    1979-01-01

    Carbonaceous matter (CM), encountered in the Pomozhan deposit, is coordinate to dolomitic-illitic clay, filling caverns in ore-bearing dolomites. The CM represents a disperse mass with particle sizes up to 2 mm, having a color from dark brown to black. The reflectivity (0.35-0.42%) and classification assignment of the CM to macerals of the vitrinite or dopplerinite group were determined by micropetrographic methods. CM belonging to the type of humic coals, transitional from brown to bituminous coals is an epigenetic formation. Its accumulation in the regions of the Ol'kush ore deposits occurred in the Triassic-Cretaceous or Cenozoic interval. Liassic coal of the Zavertse region or Helvetian coal of Khomentuv and Tarnobzheg could be the source of the CM.

  11. Preparation and combustion of coal-water fuel from the Sin Pun coal deposit, southern Thailand

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1997-05-01

    In response to an inquiry by the Department of Mineral Resources in Thailand, the Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC) prepared a program to assess the responsiveness of Sin Pun lignite to the temperature and pressure conditions of hot-water drying. The results indicate that drying made several improvements in the coal, notably increases in heating value and carbon content and reductions in equilibrium moisture and oxygen content. The equilibrium moisture content decreased from 27 wt% for the raw coal to about 15 wt% for the hot-water-dried (HWD) coals. The energy density for a pumpable coal-water fuel (CWF) indicates an increase from 4500 to 6100 Btu/lb by hot-water drying. Approximately 650 lb of HWD Sin Pun CWF were fired in the EERC`s combustion test facility. The fuel burned extremely well, with no feed problems noted during the course of the test. Fouling and slagging deposits each indicated a very low rate of ash deposition, with only a dusty layer formed on the cooled metal surfaces. The combustor was operated at between 20% and 25% excess air, resulting in a flue gas SO{sub 2} concentration averaging approximately 6500 parts per million.

  12. Stratigraphic and climatic implications of clay mineral changes around the Paleocene/Eocene boundary of the northeastern US margin

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gibson, T.G.; Bybell, L.M.; Mason, D.B.

    2000-01-01

    Kaolinite usually is present in relatively small amounts in most upper Paleocene and lower Eocene neritic deposits of the northern US Atlantic Coastal Plain. However, there is a short period (less than 200,000 k.y.) in the latest Paleocene (upper part of calcareous nannoplankton Zone NP 9) when kaolinite-dominated clay mineral suites replaced the usual illite/smectite-dominated suites. During this time of global biotic and lithologic changes, kaolinite increased from less than 5% of the clay mineral suite to peak proportions of 50-60% of the suite and then returned to less than 5% in uppermost Paleocene/lowermost Eocene strata. This kaolinite pulse is present at numerous localities from southern Virginia to New Jersey. These sites represent both inner and middle neritic depositional environments and reflect input from several river drainage systems. Thus, it is inferred that kaolinite-rich source areas were widespread in the northeastern US during the latest Paleocene. Erosion of these source areas contributed the kaolinite that was transported and widely dispersed into shelf environments of the Salisbury embayment. The kaolinite increase, which occurred during a time of relatively high sea level, probably is the result of intensified weathering due to increased temperature and precipitation. The southern extent of the kaolinite pulse is uncertain in that uppermost Paleocene beds have not been identified in the southern Atlantic Coastal Plain. The late Paleocene kaolinite pulse that consists of an increase to peak kaolinite levels followed by a decrease can be used for detailed correlation between more upbasin and more downbasin sections in the Salisbury embayment. Correlations show that more upbasin Paleocene/Eocene boundary sections are erosionally truncated. They have varying portions of the kaolinite increase and, if present at all, discontinuous portions of the subsequent kaolinite decrease. As these truncated sections are disconformably overlain by lower

  13. Stratigraphy and environments of deposition of the Cretaceous Hell Creek Formation (reconnaissance) and the Paleocene Ludlow Formation (detailed), southwestern North Dakota. Report of investigations No. 56

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Moore, W.L.

    1976-01-01

    The Cretaceous Hell Creek and Paleocene Ludlow Formations of southwestern North Dakota, with the exception of the included lignite beds and minor amounts of concretions and nodules, are almost exclusively clastic sediments and sedimentary rocks. Massive clays, clays alternating with silts and sands, sandstones filling channels and other depressions, sheet sandstones, and lignites are the dominant sediment and rock types present. These sediments and sedimentary rocks were mostly deposited in a continental environment and were largely alluvial, lacustrine or paludal in origin; though marginal marine deposition, in part, is indicated by the occurrence of brackish water faunas in portions of the upper Ludlow Formation. With the possible exception of a persistent lignite near the base, persistent lignites are not present in the Hell Creek Formation. The Ludlow can be subdivided into several informal units, typically coal-bounded, which can be traced laterally over large areas. This informal subdivision permits isolation of stratigraphic units for the study of local environments of deposition. Channel and depression fill sandstones of the Ludlow Formation have a relatively low permeability and a high organic content at the surface and, for this reason, are considered poor prospective uranium host rocks. The lighter colored yellow winnowed sheet sandstones of the Ludlow are more permeable and relatively free of organic matter. They are considered as possible host rocks for uranium occurring in association with an oxidation/reduction interface at shallow depths. The uranium potential is enhanced where the latter sandstones occur along paleodivides which have been overlain by the Oligocene White River Formation, or in local areas where the latter formation is still preserved. Light yellow winnowed sheet sandstones are rare in the Hell Creek Formation, and the chances for uranium prospects in this interval seem correspondingly reduced

  14. Deposit Formation in a 150 MWe Utility PF-Boiler during Co-combustion of Coal and Straw

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Andersen, Karin Hedebo; Frandsen, Flemming; Hansen, P. F. B.

    2000-01-01

    A conventional pc-fired boiler at the Danish energy company I/S Midtkraft has been converted to coal-straw co-combustion, and a 2 year demonstration program was initiated in January 1996, addressing several aspects of coal-straw co-combustion. Deposition trials were performed as part of the demon......A conventional pc-fired boiler at the Danish energy company I/S Midtkraft has been converted to coal-straw co-combustion, and a 2 year demonstration program was initiated in January 1996, addressing several aspects of coal-straw co-combustion. Deposition trials were performed as part...... problematic deposits. Go-firing straw also caused a change in the structure of the upstream deposits. During coal combustion an ordered, "finger" structure of the larger particles with small particles between was observed, whereas during co-combustion a more random deposition of the larger particles among...... arise when burning other coals, particularly coals with a high S or alkali metal content or a low content of ash. The behavior of K, Ca, S, and Cl was evaluated by use of thermodynamic calculations. The thermodynamically stable species agree with the observed behavior in the experiments, i.e. formation...

  15. Geochemical correlations between uranium and other components in U-bearing formations of Ogcheon belt

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, M.S.; Chon, H.T.

    1980-01-01

    Some components in uranium-bearing formations which consist mainly of black shale, slate and low grade coal-bearing formation of Ogcheon Belt were processed statistically in order to find out the geochemical correlations with uranium. Geochemical enrichment of uranium, vanadium and molybdenum in low grade coal-bearing formations and surrounding rocks is remarkable in the studied area. Geochemical correlation coefficient of uranium and molybdenum in the rocks displays about 0.6 and that of uranium and fixed carbon about 0.4. Uranium and vanadium in uranium-bearing low grade coals denote very high correlation with fixed carbon, which is considered to be responsible for enrichment of metallic elements, especially molybdenum. Close geochemical correlation of uranium-molybdenum couple in the rocks can be applied as a competent exploration guide to low grade uranium deposits of this area. (author)

  16. A new type of Nb (Ta)-Zr(Hf)-REE-Ga polymetallic deposit in the late Permian coal-bearing strata, eastern Yunnan, southwestern China: Possible economic significance and genetic implications

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dai, Shifeng; Wang, Xibo; Luo, Yangbing; Song, Zhentao; Ren, Deyi [State Key Laboratory of Coal Resources and Safe Mining, China University of Mining and Technology, Beijing 100083 (China); Zhou, Yiping; Zhang, Mingquan; Wang, Jumin; Song, Xiaolin; Yang, Zong [Yunnan Institute of Coal Geology Prospection, Kunming 650218 (China); Jiang, Yaofa [Xuzhou Institute of Architectural Technology, Xuzhou 221116 (China)

    2010-07-01

    This paper describes a new type of Nb(Ta)-Zr(Hf)-REE-Ga polymetallic deposit of volcanic origin in the late Permian coal-bearing strata of eastern Yunnan, southwestern China. Well logging data (especially natural gamma-ray), geochemical data (high concentrations of Nb, Ta, Zr, Hf, REE, and Ga) and mineralogical compositions (Nb(Ta)-, Zr(Hf)-, or REE-bearing minerals rarely observed), together with the volcanic lithological characteristics indicate that there are thick (1-10 m, mostly 2-5 m) ore beds in the lower Xuanwei Formation (late Permian) in eastern Yunann of southwestern China. The ore beds are highly enriched in (Nb,Ta){sub 2}O{sub 5} (302-627 ppm), (Zr,Hf)O{sub 2} (3805-8468 ppm), REE (oxides of La-Lu + Y) (1216-1358 ppm), and Ga (52.4-81.3 ppm). The ore beds are mainly composed of quartz, mixed-layer illite-smectite, kaolinite, berthierine, and albite. Four types of ore beds in the study area were identified, namely, clay altered volcanic ash, tuffaceous clay, tuff, and volcanic breccia. Preliminary studies suggest that the high concentrations of otherwise rare metals were mainly derived from the alkalic pyroclastic rocks. The modes of occurrence, spatial distribution, and enrichment mechanism of the rare metals, however, require further study. (author)

  17. A brief introduction to the Tavan Tolgoi coking coal deposit

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1992-01-01

    The Tavan Tolgoi coal field is located near the settlement Tsogttsetsii in the South Gobi province, 540 km south of Ulaanbaatar and 96 km east of Dalan Zadgad. The nearest railway stations are Choir, Khar-Airag and Sainshand and are located a distance of about 390 to 450 km, to the northeast of the coal field. An unimproved road connects the property with the railway stations at this time. The Tavan Tolgoi coal field covers 220 square km of land. The coal bearing strata contains 16 coal seams from 3 to 30 m thick with a total average thickness of 165 m. As per the geological survey, the proven and probable reserves of the Tavan Tolgoi coal field are estimated at 5 billion tonnes. Of the 5 billion tonnes, 77.5% or 3.9 billion tonnes are expected to be washed and will produce 2.16 billion tonnes (55% wash recovery) of clean coking coal. 1.41 billion tonnes or 36% of the washed coal will be middlings and available for steam coal, and 9% or 0.33 billion tonnes will be washed or gob. The remaining 1.2 billion tonnes can be mined and sold raw as steam coal. Water, electricity supplies and transportation will have to be developed. Research on this has been done. Markets are envisaged to be within Mongolia, and in the Asia Pacific region. Foreign investment will be needed. 5 figs., 6 tabs.

  18. Testing the ``Wildfire Hypothesis:'' Terrestrial Organic Carbon Burning as the Cause of the Paleocene-Eocene Boundary Carbon Isotope Excursion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moore, E. A.; Kurtz, A. C.

    2005-12-01

    The 3‰ negative carbon isotope excursion (CIE) at the Paleocene-Eocene boundary has generally been attributed to dissociation of seafloor methane hydrates. We are testing the alternative hypothesis that the carbon cycle perturbation resulted from wildfires affecting the extensive peatlands and coal swamps formed in the Paleocene. Accounting for the CIE with terrestrial organic carbon rather than methane requires a significantly larger net release of fossil carbon to the ocean-atmosphere, which may be more consistent with the extreme global warming and ocean acidification characteristic of the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM). While other researchers have noted evidence of fires at the Paleocene-Eocene boundary in individual locations, the research presented here is designed to test the "wildfire hypothesis" for the Paleocene-Eocene boundary by examining marine sediments for evidence of a global increase in wildfire activity. Such fires would produce massive amounts of soot, widely distributed by wind and well preserved in marine sediments as refractory black carbon. We expect that global wildfires occurring at the Paleocene-Eocene boundary would produce a peak in black carbon abundance at the PETM horizon. We are using the method of Gelinas et al. (2001) to produce high-resolution concentration profiles of black carbon across the Paleocene-Eocene boundary using seafloor sediments from ODP cores, beginning with the Bass River core from ODP leg 174AX and site 1209 from ODP leg 198. This method involves the chemical and thermal extraction of non-refractory carbon followed by combustion of the residual black carbon and measurement as CO2. Measurement of the δ 13C of the black carbon will put additional constraints on the source of the organic material combusted, and will allow us to determine if this organic material was formed prior to or during the CIE.

  19. Hydrochemical characteristics and quality assessment of deep groundwater from the coal-bearing aquifer of the Linhuan coal-mining district, Northern Anhui Province, China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lin, Man-Li; Peng, Wei-Hua; Gui, He-Rong

    2016-04-01

    There is little information available about the hydrochemical characteristics of deep groundwater in the Linhuan coal-mining district, Northern Anhui Province, China. In this study, we report information about the physicochemical parameters, major ions, and heavy metals of 17 groundwater samples that were collected from the coal-bearing aquifer. The results show that the concentrations of total dissolved solids, electrical conductivity, and potassium and sodium (K(+) + Na(+)) in most of the groundwater samples exceeded the guidelines of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Chinese National Standards for Drinking Water Quality (GB 5749-2006). The groundwater from the coal-bearing aquifer was dominated by the HCO3·Cl-K + Na and HCO3·SO4-K + Na types. Analysis with a Gibbs plot suggested that the major ion chemistry of the groundwater was primarily controlled by weathering of rocks and that the coal-bearing aquifer in the Linhuan coal-mining district was a relatively closed system. K(+) and Na(+) originated from halite and silicate weathering reactions, while Ca(2+) and Mg(2+) originated from the dissolution of calcite, dolomite, and gypsum or anhydrite. Ion exchange reactions also had an influence on the formation of major ions in groundwater. The concentrations of selected heavy metals decreased in the order Mn > Zn > Cr > Cu > Ni > Pb. In general, the heavy metal concentrations were low; however, the Cr, Mn, and Ni concentrations in some of the groundwater samples exceeded the standards outlined by the WHO, the GB 5749-2006, and the Chinese National Standards for Groundwater (GB/T 14848-93). Analysis by various indices (% Na, SAR, and EC), a USSL diagram, and a Wilcox diagram showed that both the salinity and alkalinity of the groundwater were high, such that the groundwater could not be used for irrigating agricultural land without treatment. These results will be significant for water resource exploiting and utilization in

  20. A depositional model for the Taylor coal bed, Martin and Johnson counties, eastern Kentucky

    Science.gov (United States)

    Andrews, W.M.; Hower, J.C.; Ferm, J.C.; Evans, S.D.; Sirek, N.S.; Warrell, M.; Eble, C.F.

    1996-01-01

    This study investigated the Taylor coal bed in Johnson and Martin counties, eastern Kentucky, using field and petrographic techniques to develop a depositional model of the coal bed. Petrography and chemistry of the coal bed were examined. Multiple benches of the Taylor coal bed were correlated over a 10 km distance. Three sites were studied in detail. The coal at the western and eastern sites were relatively thin and split by thick clastic partings. The coal at the central site was the thickest and unsplit. Two major clastic partings are included in the coal bed. Each represents a separate and distinct fluvial splay. The Taylor is interpreted to have developed on a coastal plain with periodic flooding from nearby, structurally-controlled fluvial systems. Doming is unlikely due to the petrographic and chemical trends, which are inconsistent with modern Indonesian models. The depositional history and structural and stratigraphic setting suggest contemporaneous structural influence on thickness and quality of the Taylor coal bed in this area.

  1. Two main types of uranium deposit within phanerozoic formations of Ukraine

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Shumlyanskiy, V.A.

    1997-01-01

    The two main types of uranium deposits occurring within Phanaerozoic formations of Ukraine are described. They consist of uraniferous bearing bitumen in the Upper Carboniferous to Lower Triassic red beds, and infiltration (roll front type) uranium ores, occurring in the sediments filling ancient Paleogene river valleys. The first deposit type include black to dark brown beds of disseminated to massive bitumen occurring respectively as ozyantraxolite and oxykerite. These beds include uranium, as well as other metals. This uranium mineralization is dated at 195 to 200 million years old. The second type includes infiltration deposits in Paleogene coal bearing sediments, with the uranium mineralization occurring in the upper part of the sequence. The sediments occur within paleovallyes eroded into the underlying crystalline basement of the Ukraine shield and its weathered crust. The paleovalleys extend to a depth of 70 to 90 metres. The coal bearing sediments are overlain by sediments of younger age. Several uranium deposits of the second type are known, including a few identified as being of industrial grade. (author). 7 figs

  2. Floristic characters of the upper coal-bearing formation in the Transcarpathians

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Syabryaj, S. [Institute of Geological Sciences NASU, Kiev (Ukraine)

    1997-12-31

    The results of palynological studies of samples from outcrops, boreholes and mines in the Transcarpathians are presented. Megafloral remains from the Ilnitsa suite show the age of the upper coal-bearing formation to be Romanian. The palynological analysis allows the reconstruction of changes in the plant cover during the Romanian, and the determination of the climatic and palaeogeographic conditions. 10 refs., 2 figs., 1 tab.

  3. USGS compilation of geographic information system (GIS) data of coal mines and coal-bearing areas in Mongolia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Trippi, Michael H.; Belkin, Harvey E.

    2015-09-10

    Geographic information system (GIS) information may facilitate energy studies, which in turn provide input for energy policy decisions. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has compiled GIS data representing coal mines, deposits (including those with and without coal mines), occurrences, areas, basins, and provinces of Mongolia as of 2009. These data are now available for download, and may be used in a GIS for a variety of energy resource and environmental studies of Mongolia. Chemical data for 37 coal samples from a previous USGS study of Mongolia (Tewalt and others, 2010) are included in a downloadable GIS point shapefile and shown on the map of Mongolia. A brief report summarizes the methodology used for creation of the shapefiles and the chemical analyses run on the samples.

  4. Late Cretaceous coal overlying karstic bauxite deposits in the Parnassus-Ghiona Unit, Central Greece: Coal characteristics and depositional environment

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kalaitzidis, Stavros; Siavalas, George; Christanis, Kimon [Dept. of Geology, University of Patras, 26504 Rio-Patras (Greece); Skarpelis, Nikos [Dept. of Geology and Geoenvironment, University of Athens, 15784 Zografou (Greece); Araujo, Carla Viviane [Petrobras-Cenpes GEOQ/PDEXP, Rua Horacio Macedo n 950, Cidade Universitaria - Ilha do Fundao, 21941-915 Rio de Janeiro (Brazil)

    2010-04-01

    The Pera-Lakkos coal located on top of bauxite deposits in the Ghiona mining district (Central Greece), is the only known Mesozoic (Late Cretaceous) coal in the country. It was derived from herbaceous plants and algae growing in mildly brackish mires that formed behind a barrier system during a regression of the sea, on a karstified limestone partly filled in with bauxitic detritus. Petrological, mineralogical and geochemical data point to the predominance of reducing conditions and intense organic matter degradation in the palaeomires. O/C vs. H/C and OI vs. HI plots, based on elemental analysis and Rock-Eval data, characterize kerogen types I/II. This reflects the relatively high liptinite content of the coal. Besides kerogen composition, O/C vs. H/C plot for the Pera-Lakkos coals is in accordance with a catagenesis stage of maturation in contrast with vitrinite reflectance and T{sub max} from Rock-Eval pyrolysis, which indicate the onset of oil window maturation stage. Suppression of vitrinite reflectance should be considered and the high liptinite content corroborates this hypothesis. Despite some favourable aspects for petroleum generation presented by the Pera-Lakkos coal, its maximum thickness (up to 50 cm) points to a restricted potential for petroleum generation. Coal oxidation took place either during the late stage of peat formation, due to wave action accompanying the subsequent marine transgression, or epigenetically after the emergence of the whole sequence due to percolation of drainage waters. Both options are also supported by the REE shale-normalized profiles, which demonstrate an upwards depletion in the coal layer. Oxidation also affected pyrite included in the coal; this led to the formation of acidic (sulfate-rich) solutions, which percolated downwards resulting in bleaching of the upper part of the underlying bauxite. (author)

  5. Geochronological constraints on Cretaceous-Paleocene volcanism in South Westland, New Zealand

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Phillips, C.J.; Cooper, A.F.; Palin, J.M.; Nathan, S.

    2005-01-01

    Cretaceous and Paleocene sedimentation in South Westland, New Zealand, is recorded in the Otumotu Formation, Tauperikaka Coal Measures, Whakapohai Sandstone, Arnott Basalt, Buttress Conglomerate, and Tokakoriri Formation, originally named and mapped by Nathan in 1977. Within this stratigraphic sequence, the name Buttress Conglomerate was used to describe volcanic conglomerates at Porphyry and Buttress Points that contained rounded clasts of plagioclasephyric intermediate volcanic rocks. Stratigraphically, the volcanic conglomerate at Porphyry Point forms sharp contacts with the underlying Arnott Basalt (Haumurian) and overlying Tokakoriri Formation (Teurian). The volcanic conglomerate at Buttress Point, however, is entirely fault-bounded. Clasts from each unit were collected and U-Pb zircon dated using the TIMS and ELA-ICP-MS methods. A trachyandesite clast collected at Buttress Point gives an age of 96.9 ± 1.6 Ma, whereas a rhyolite clast collected at Porphyry Point gives an age of 61.4 ± 0.8 Ma. Petrological, geochemical, and stratigraphic data suggest that erosion of the clasts closely followed volcanism, and that these ages accurately reflect the depositional ages of the conglomerates. Conglomerates at Porphyry and Buttress Points have been formally renamed the Porphyry Point Member of the Tokakoriri Formation and the Buttress Point Conglomerate, respectively. (author). 49 refs., 7 figs., 4 tabs

  6. Preparation of coal slurries deposited in ground settling ponds

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wiesław Blaschke

    2005-11-01

    Full Text Available As a result of the hard coal washing process, considerable quantities of coal slimes are generated. They belong to grain size classes below 1, 0 mm (with the majority of grains below 0,035 mm and are often sold in order to prepare blends for the power generation. It is assessed that in Poland about 11 mln tons of such slimes were deposited. The slimes of a low ash content can be exploited and sold. The slime of high ash content must be washed. In Poland there is one coal preparation plant for slurries. The article describes the technology and presents the results of a simplified economic analysis of exploitation of the slurries and their washing.

  7. National coal resource assessment non-proprietary data: Location, stratigraphy, and coal quality for selected tertiary coal in the Northern Rocky Mountains and Great Plains region

    Science.gov (United States)

    Flores, Romeo M.; Ochs, A.M.; Stricker, G.D.; Ellis, M.S.; Roberts, S.B.; Keighin, C.W.; Murphy, E.C.; Cavaroc, V.V.; Johnson, R.C.; Wilde, E.M.

    1999-01-01

    One of the objectives of the National Coal Resource Assessment in the Northern Rocky Mountains and Great Plains region was to compile stratigraphic and coal quality-trace-element data on selected and potentially minable coal beds and zones of the Fort Union Formation (Paleocene) and equivalent formations. In order to implement this objective, drill-hole information was compiled from hard-copy and digital files of the: (1) U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) offices in Casper, Rawlins, and Rock Springs, Wyoming, and in Billings, Montana, (2) State geological surveys of Montana, North Dakota, and Wyoming, (3) Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality in Cheyenne, (4) U.S. Office of Surface Mining in Denver, Colorado, (5) U.S. Geological Survey, National Coal Resource Data System (NCRDS) in Reston, Virginia, (6) U.S. Geological Survey coal publications, (7) university theses, and (8) mining companies.

  8. Assessment of the petroleum, coal and geothermal resources of the economic community of West African States (ECOWAS) Region

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mattick, Robert E. [U.S. Geological Survey, Boulder, CO (United States); Spencer, Frank D. [U.S. Geological Survey, Boulder, CO (United States); Zihlman, Frederick N. [U.S. Geological Survey, Boulder, CO (United States)

    1982-01-01

    Approximately 85 percent of the land area of the ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) region is covered by basement rocks (igneous and highly metamorphosed rocks) or relatively thin layers of Paleozoic, Upper Precambrian, and Continental Intercalaire sedimentary rocks. These areas have little or no petroleum potential. The ECOWAS region can be divided into 13 sedimentary basins on the basis of analysis of the geologic framework of Africa. These 13 basins can be further grouped into 8 categories on the basis of similarities in stratigraphy, geologic history, and probable hydrocarbon potential. The author has attempted to summarize the petroleum potential within the geologic framework of the region. The coal discoveries can be summarized as follows: the Carboniferous section in the Niger Basin; the Paleocene-Maestrichtian, Maestrichtian, and Eocene sections in the Niger Delta and Benin; the Maestrichtian section in the Senegal Basin; and the Pleistocene section in Sierra Leone. The only proved commercial deposits are the Paleocene-Maestrichtian and Maestrichtian subbituminous coal beds of the Niger Delta. Some of the lignite deposits of the Niger Delta and Senegal Basin, however, may be exploitable in the future. Published literature contains limited data on heat-flow values in the ECOWAS region. It is inferred, however, from the few values available and the regional geology that the development of geothermal resources, in general, would be uneconomical. Exceptions may include a geopressured zone in the Niger Delta and areas of recent tectonic activity in the Benue Trough and Cameroon. Development of the latter areas under present economic conditions is not feasible.

  9. Full Scale Deposition Trials at 150 MWe PF-boiler Co-firing COal and Straw: Summary of Results

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Andersen, Karin Hedebo; Frandsen, Flemming; Hansen, Peter Farkas Binderup

    1999-01-01

    A conventional PF-fired boiler at the Danish energy company I/S Midtkraft has been converted to coal-straw co-combustion and a two-year demonstration programme was initiated in January 1996 addressing several aspects of coal-straw co-combustion. Deposition trials were performed as part...... during co-combustion with straw. In addition, where Fe dominated upstream deposits are found in the hottest positions during pure coal combustion, Ca, and to some degree Si, are playing the major role during co-combustion. The addition of straw to the fuel is also seen to lead to a change in the texture...... of the upstream deposits, from an ordered dendritic structure of the larger particles with small particles in between during pure coal combustion, to a more random deposition of the larger particles among the small during co-combustion. No deposition of chlorine species was observed in the SEM-EDX analysis...

  10. Depositional history of the Fire Clay coal bed (Late Duckmantian), Eastern Kentucky, USA

    Science.gov (United States)

    Greb, S.F.; Eble, C.F.; Hower, J.C.

    1999-01-01

    More than 3800 coal thickness measurements, proximate analyses from 97 localities, and stratigraphic and sedimentological analyses from more than 300 outcrops and cores were used in conjunction with previously reported palynological and petrographic studies to map individual benches of the coal and document bench-scale variability in the Fire Clay (Hazard No. 4) coal bed across a 1860 km2 area of the Eastern Kentucky Coal Field. The bench architecture of the Fire Clay coal bed consists of uncommon leader benches, a persistent but variable lower bench, a widespread, and generally thick upper bench, and local, variable rider benches. Rheotrophic conditions are inferred for the leader benches and lower bench based on sedimentological associations, mixed palynomorph assemblages, locally common cannel coal layers, and generally high ash yields. The lower bench consistently exhibits vertical variability in petrography and palynology that reflects changing trophic conditions as topographic depressions infilled. Infilling also led to unconfined flooding and ultimately the drowning of the lower bench mire. The drowned mire was covered by an air-fall volcanic-ash deposit, which produced the characteristic flint clay parting. The extent and uniform thickness of the parting suggests that the ash layer was deposited in water on a relatively flat surface without a thick canopy or extensive standing vegetation across most of the study area. Ash deposits led to regional ponding and establishment of a second planar mire. Because the topography had become a broadly uniform, nutrient-rich surface, upper-bench peats became widespread with large areas of the mire distant to clastic sources. Vertical sections of thick (> 70 cm), low-ash yield, upper coal bench show a common palynomorph change from arborescent lycopod dominance upward to fern and densospore-producing, small lycopod dominance, inferred as a shift from planar to ombrotrophic mire phases. Domed mires appear to have been

  11. A study on the forms of existence of germanium in uranium-bearing coals of Bangmai basin of Yunnan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang Shuling; Wang Shuying; Yin Jinshuang

    1988-07-01

    The Bangmai basin is an asymmetrical intermontane synclinal basin with a Hercynian-Yenshan granitic body (γ 3 3 -γ 5 2 ) as its basement. Its overlying strata are made up of the N 1 of coal-bearing clastic rocks of Neogene period. Germanium ore mostly occur within the N 1 2 coal-seam. Uranium, germanium-bearing coals are mainly lignites of low grade in coalation and belong to semidurain, semiclarain, duroclarain and clarodurain. In order to probe into the forms of existence of germanium in coal, six kinds of analytical methods (electronic probe analysis, separation of heavy liquid, grain-size analysis, electric osmosis, chemical extraction and grade-extraction) have been adopted. A simulated test of humic complex germanium in the laboratory was carried out. According to infrared spectral analysis, it is found that 1700 cm -1 wavecrest almost disappears, 1250 cm -1 peak weakens and 1600 cm -1 peak strengthens, 1400 cm -1 peak slightly strengthens. No doubt, these illustrate the formatiion of humic germanium complex. Afterward, through differential thermal analysis and measurement of pH variation of media, it futher proves the presence of humic germanium complex. It is considered that the forms of existence of germanium in uranium-bearing coals mainly are: (1) In close chemical combination with organic matter, usually in the form of humic germanium complex and germanium organic compound; (2) In the state of adsorption, germanium is adsorbed by some organic matter, clay minerals and limonite etc.; (3) A very rare part occurring as isomorphous form

  12. On the presence of upper paleocene rocks in the foreland succession at Cabo Nariz, Tierra del Fuego, Chile: Geology and new palynological and U-Pb data

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sanchez, Alejandro; Pavlishina, Polina; Godoy, Estanislao; Herve, Francisco; Fanning, C.Mark

    2010-01-01

    On the west coast of Tierra del Fuego, south of Cabo Nariz, in Chile, Upper Cretaceous to Paleocene sedimentary successions of the Magallanes foreland basin crop out. The presence of dinoflagellate cysts, as well as radiometric U-Pb SHPJMP dating of detrital zircons, indicate that this succession ranges from the Campanian to Thanetian (Late Paleocene) in age. The base of the exposed sedimentary succession comprises siltstones of external platform facies (Cerro Cuchilla Formation), which are thrust over the Cabo Nariz Beds. The latter fonnation is divided into two members: a lower siltstone-dominated turbidite facies member and an upper member of sandstone-dominated turbidites, with sandstone and conglomerate channel facies. The presence of dinocysts in the Cerro Cuchilla Formation suggests a late Campanian to early Danian age. The fossil content in the Cabo Nariz Beds indicate a Selandian (Middle Paleocene) depositional age in accordance with the detrital zircon ages which provide a maximum possible Campanian age (76.5±0.7 Ma), and very close to the Thanetian (Late Paleocene) (57.6±1 Ma) depositional ages for the lower and upper member, respectively. The sedimentary succession of Cabo Nariz Beds, is interpreted as a north-northwest prograding submarine fan of middle to Late Paleocene age. It is considered to represent the deposition of detritus derived from an uplifting orogen located to the south. The detrital zircon age spectra suggest that there was a period of low intensity of magmatic activity in the source area around the K-T boundary

  13. Relationships between coal-quality and organic-geochemical parameters: A case study of the Hafik coal deposits (Sivas Basin, Turkey)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Erik, N. Yalcin; Sancar, S. [Cumhuriyet University, Department of Geological Engineering, Sivas (Turkey)

    2010-09-01

    This study provides coal-quality, organic-petrographic and organic-geochemical data on Tertiary subbituminous coal of the Hafik area, northwestern part of the Sivas Basin, Turkey. Coal-petrological studies along with proximate and ultimate analyses were undertaken to determine the organic-petrographic characteristics of the Hafik coals. Huminite reflectances were found to be between 0.38 and 0.48% (corresponding to an organic-material-rich and coal layers), values characteristic of low maturity. This parameter shows a good correlation with calorific values (average 21,060 kJ/kg) and average T{sub max} (422 C) mineral-matter diagenesis, indicating immaturity. The studied coals and organic material underwent only low-grade transformation, a consequence of low lithostatic pressure. Therefore, the Hafik coals are actually subbituminous in rank. Rock-Eval analysis results show types II/III and III kerogens. The organic fraction of the coals is mostly comprised of humic-group macerals (gelinites), with small percentages derived from the inertinite and liptinite groups. In this study, organic-petrographic, organic-geochemical and coal quality data were compared. The Hafik deposit is a high-ash, high-sulfur coal. The mineral matter of the coals is comprised mainly of calcite and clay minerals. (author)

  14. Slagging behavior of upgraded brown coal and bituminous coal in 145 MW practical coal combustion boiler

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Akiyama, Katsuya; Pak, Haeyang; Takubo, Yoji [Kobe Steel, Ltd, Kobe (Japan). Mechanical Engineering Research Lab.; Tada, Toshiya [Kobe Steel, Ltd, Takasago (Japan). Coal and Energy Technology Dept.; Ueki, Yasuaki [Nagoya Univ. (Japan). Energy Science Div.; Yoshiie, Ryo; Naruse, Ichiro [Nagoya Univ. (Japan). Dept. of Mechanical Science and Engineering

    2013-07-01

    The purpose of this study is to quantitatively evaluate behaviors of ash deposition during combustion of Upgraded Brown Coal (UBC) and bituminous coal in a 145 MW practical coal combustion boiler. A blended coal consisting 20 wt% of the UBC and 80 wt% of the bituminous coal was burned for the combustion tests. Before the actual ash deposition tests, the molten slag fractions of ash calculated by chemical equilibrium calculations under the combustion condition was adopted as one of the indices to estimate the tendency of ash deposition. The calculation results showed that the molten slag fraction for UBC ash reached approximately 90% at 1,523 K. However, that for the blended coal ash became about 50%. These calculation results mean that blending the UBC with a bituminous coal played a role in decreasing the molten slag fraction. Next, the ash deposition tests were conducted, using a practical pulverized coal combustion boiler. A water-cooled stainless-steel tube was inserted in locations at 1,523 K in the boiler to measure the amount of ash deposits. The results showed that the mass of deposited ash for the blended coal increased and shape of the deposited ash particles on the tube became large and spherical. This is because the molten slag fraction in ash for the blended coal at 1,523 K increased and the surface of deposited ash became sticky. However, the mass of the deposited ash for the blended coal did not greatly increase and no slagging problems occurred for 8 days of boiler operation under the present blending conditions. Therefore, appropriate blending of the UBC with a bituminous coal enables the UBC to be used with a low ash melting point without any ash deposition problems in a practical boiler.

  15. Petrography and microanalysis of Pennsylvanian coal-ball concretions (Herrin Coal, Illinois Basin, USA): Bearing on fossil plant preservation and coal-ball origins

    Science.gov (United States)

    Siewers, Fredrick D.; Phillips, Tom L.

    2015-11-01

    Petrographic analyses of 25 coal balls from well-studied paleobotanical profiles in the Middle Pennsylvanian Herrin Coal (Westphalian D, Illinois Basin) and five select coal balls from university collections, indicate that Herrin Coal-ball peats were permineralized by fibrous and non-fibrous carbonates. Fibrous carbonates occur in fan-like to spherulitic arrays in many intracellular (within tissue) pores, and are best developed in relatively open extracellular (between plant) pore spaces. Acid etched fibrous carbonates appear white under reflected light and possess a microcrystalline texture attributable to abundant microdolomite. Scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and electron microprobe analysis demonstrate that individual fibers have a distinct trigonal prism morphology and are notable for their magnesium content (≈ 9-15 mol% MgCO3). Non-fibrous carbonates fill intercrystalline spaces among fibers and pores within the peat as primary precipitates and neomorphic replacements. In the immediate vicinity of plant cell walls, non-fibrous carbonates cut across fibrous carbonates as a secondary, neomorphic phase attributed to coalification of plant cell walls. Dolomite occurs as diagenetic microdolomite associated with the fibrous carbonate phase, as sparite replacements, and as void-filling cement. Maximum dolomite (50-59 wt.%) is in the top-of-seam coal-ball zone at the Sahara Mine, which is overlain by the marine Anna Shale. Coal-ball formation in the Herrin Coal began with the precipitation of fibrous high magnesium calcite. The trigonal prism morphology of the carbonate fibers suggests rapid precipitation from super-saturated, meteoric pore waters. Carbonate precipitation from marine waters is discounted on the basis of stratigraphic, paleobotanical, and stable isotopic evidence. Most non-fibrous carbonate is attributable to later diagenetic events, including void-fill replacements, recrystallization, and post-depositional fracture fills. Evidence

  16. Paradise (and Herrin) lost: Marginal depositional settings of the Herrin and Paradise coals, Western Kentucky coalfield

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    O' Keefe, J.M.K.; Shultz, M.G.; Rimmer, S.M. [University of Kentucky, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Lexington, KY 40506 (United States); Hower, J.C. [University of Kentucky, Center for Applied Energy Research, 2540 Research Park Dr., Lexington, KY 40511 (United States); Popp, J.T. [Alliance Coal, Lexington, KY 40503 (United States)

    2008-08-05

    This is the fourth installment in a series of papers on the Asturian (Westphalian D) disrupted mire margins, termed the ''ragged edge'' in previous papers, and limestone distributions in the Herrin-Baker coal interval in the Western Kentucky extension of the Illinois Basin. New data, indicating in-situ peat development and marine influence, collected from the first in-mine exposure of this interval are presented. Borehole data from the region are examined in the context of ''ragged edge'' exposures and a carbonate platform depositional model for this portion of the Illinois Basin is presented. This shows that deposition of the sequence was influenced both by the underlying sediments and by a marine transgression. The former influence is seen in variations in coal and limestone thickness over sandstone-filled channels versus over shale bayfill deposits. The latter is marked by the progressive upwards loss of coal benches (i.e., the bottom bench of both coals is the most extensive and the Herrin coal is more extensive than the overlying Paradise coal) and by marine partings in both coals. Further, the brecciated margins seen in both coal seams are similar to brecciated peats encountered along the Everglades margins of Southwest Florida. Overall coal distributions are similar to both those along the Everglades margins and those along a transect from the Belize coast to Ambergis Caye. (author)

  17. Depositional setting, petrology and chemistry of Permian coals from the Parana Basin: 2. South Santa Catarina Coalfield, Brazil

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kalkreuth, W.; Mexias, A.; Balbinot, M.; Levandowski, J. [Instituto de Geociencias, UFRGS, Porto Alegre (Brazil); Holz, M. [Inst. de Geociencias, UFBA, Salvador, Bahia (Brazil); Willett, J.; Finkelman, R. [U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, VA (United States); Burger, H. [Freie Universitaet Berlin, Geoinformatik, (Germany)

    2010-12-01

    In Brazil economically important coal deposits occur in the southern part of the Parana Basin, where coal seams occur in the Permian Rio Bonito Formation, with major coal development in the states of Rio Grande de Sul and Santa Catarina. The current paper presents results on sequence stratigraphic interpretation of the coal-bearing strata, and petrological and geochemical coal seam characterization from the South Santa Catarina Coalfield, Parana Basin. In terms of sequence stratigraphic interpretation the precursor mires of the Santa Catarina coal seams formed in an estuarine-barrier shoreface depositional environment, with major peat accumulation in a high stand systems tract (Pre-Bonito and Bonito seams), a lowstand systems tract (Ponta Alta seam, seam A, seam B) and a transgressive systems tract (Irapua, Barro Branco and Treviso seams). Seam thicknesses range from 1.70 to 2.39 m, but high proportions of impure coal (coaly shale and shaley coal), carbonaceous shale and partings reduce the net coal thickness significantly. Coal lithoypes are variable, with banded coal predominant in the Barro Branco seam, and banded dull and dull coal predominantly in Bonito and Irapua seams, respectively. Results from petrographic analyses indicate a vitrinite reflectance range from 0.76 to 1.63 %Rrandom (HVB A to LVB coal). Maceral group distribution varies significantly, with the Barro Branco seam having the highest vitrinite content (mean 67.5 vol%), whereas the Irapua seam has the highest inertinite content (33.8 vol%). Liptinite mean values range from 7.8 vol% (Barro Branco seam) to 22.5 vol% (Irapua seam). Results from proximate analyses indicate for the three seams high ash yields (50.2 - 64.2 wt.%). Considering the International Classification of in-Seam Coals, all samples are in fact classified as carbonaceous rocks (> 50 wt.% ash). Sulfur contents range from 3.4 to 7.7 wt.%, of which the major part occurs as pyritic sulfur. Results of X-ray diffraction indicate the

  18. Exotic clasts, debris flow deposits and their significance for reconstruction of the Istebna Formation (Late Cretaceous - Paleocene, Silesian Basin, Outer Carpathians)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Strzeboński, Piotr; Kowal-Kasprzyk, Justyna; Olszewska, Barbara

    2017-08-01

    The different types of calcareous exotic clasts (fragments of pre-existing rocks), embedded in the Paleocene siliciclastic deposits of the Istebna Formation from the Beskid Mały Mountains (Silesian Unit, Western Outer Carpathians), were studied and differentiated through microfacies-biostratigraphical analysis. Calcareous exotics of the Oxfordian- Kimmeridgian age prevail, representing a type of sedimentation comparable to that one documented for the northern Tethyan margin. The Tithonian exotic clasts (Štramberk-type limestones), which are much less common, were formed on a carbonate platform and related slope. The sedimentary paleotransport directions indicate the Silesian Ridge as a main source area for all exotics, which were emplaced in the depositional setting of the flysch deposits. The exotics constitute a relatively rare local component of some debrites. Proceedings of the sedimentological facies analysis indicate that these mass transport deposits were accumulated en-masse by debris flows in a deep-water depositional system in the form of a slope apron. Exotics prove that clasts of the crystalline basement and, less common, fragments of the sedimentary cover, originated from long-lasting tectonic activity and intense uplift of the source area. Mass transport processes and mass accumulation of significant amounts of the coarse-grained detrital material in the south facial zone of the Silesian Basin during the Early Paleogene was due to reactivation of the Silesian Ridge and its increased denudation. Relative regression and erosion of the emerged older flysch deposits were also forced by this uplift. These processes were connected with the renewed diastrophic activity in the Alpine Tethys.

  19. Berau coal in East Kalimantan; Its petrographics characteristics and depositional environment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nana Suwarna

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available http://dx.doi.org/10.17014/ijog.vol2no4.20071To asses the characteristics of the Early to Middle Miocene Berau coal in the Berau Basin, leading to interpretation of coal depositional environments, some fresh outcrop and subcrop samples and also drill cores of the coals have been analyzed microscopically. Coal petrographic analysis was performed on twenty four coal samples from the Middle Miocene Lati Formation. Vitrinite, present in a high value, and ranging between 66.2 - 96.2%, is dominated by vitrinite B. On the other hand, inertinite and exinite, showing a similar value, exist in a low to moderate amount. Vitrinite reflectance, present in a low value, varies from 0.40 - 0.58%. Low mineral matter content is dominated by clay minerals (0.4 - 6.6% with minor pyrite. Transitions from wet and very wet forested swamps to drier conditions with lower tree density are indicated by the higher content of vitrinite B, whilst a reverse trend is indicated by the lower content of vitrinite A. Petrographic indices obtained from facies diagnostic macerals show that an accumulation of the ancient peats under prevailing relatively wet limited influx clastic marsh to very wet forest swamps or moors is considered. The composition of the coal samples supports the interpretation of a system of fluvial to meandering streams in an upper delta plain environment. The original peat-forming vegetation was composed mainly of cellulose rich, shrub-like plants, tree ferns, herbaceous plant communities, with minor amount of trees. Thereby, the organic facies concept is thus applicable in basin studies context and has potential to become an additional tool for depositional environment interpretation.  

  20. Soil as an archive of coal-fired power plant mercury deposition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rodríguez Martín, José Antonio; Nanos, Nikos

    2016-05-05

    Mercury pollution is a global environmental problem that has serious implications for human health. One of the most important sources of anthropogenic mercury emissions are coal-burning power plants. Hg accumulations in soil are associated with their atmospheric deposition. Our study provides the first assessment of soil Hg on the entire Spanish surface obtained from one sampling protocol. Hg spatial distribution was analysed with topsoil samples taken from 4000 locations in a regular sampling grid. The other aim was to use geostatistical techniques to verify the extent of soil contamination by Hg and to evaluate presumed Hg enrichment near the seven Spanish power plants with installed capacity above 1000 MW. The Hg concentration in Spanish soil fell within the range of 1-7564 μg kg(-1) (mean 67.2) and 50% of the samples had a concentration below 37 μg kg(-1). Evidence for human activity was found near all the coal-fired power plants, which reflects that metals have accumulated in the basin over many years. Values over 1000 μg kg(-1) have been found in soils in the vicinity of the Aboño, Soto de Ribera and Castellon power plants. However, soil Hg enrichment was detectable only close to the emission source, within an approximate range of only 15 km from the power plants. We associated this effect with airborne emissions and subsequent depositions as the potential distance through fly ash deposition. Hg associated with particles of ash tends to be deposited near coal combustion sources. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  1. Characteristics of microfossils assemblages of core SB-01 from Sanshui basin and discussion of paleocene-eocene boundary

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen Liang; Xie Yecai; Wang Zhengqing; Ma Chuang

    2011-01-01

    Characteristics of microfossils assemblages of core SB-01 from Sanshui Basin have been analysised in this paper. Based on micropaleontological study and data from carbon and oxygen isotopes of bulk carbonates, which depth of Paleocene-Eocene boundary from the core was discussed. Ostracode assemblages include the Sinocypris nitela-Cyprois buxinensis-Limnocythere honggangensis assemblage(89.0-73.38 m) with few species and low abundance and the Sinocypris nitela-Cyprois buxinensis-Limnocythere honggangensis assemblage (73.38-0 m) with few species and low abundance during early and middle the core deposition and relatively many species and abundance increasing quickly of the late time of the core deposition; Charophyte assemblages contain the Peckichara subspherica-Rhabdochara jiangduensis assemblage (89.0-73.38 m) with rich species, high abundance and large sizes of fossils and the Gyrogona qianjiangica-Obtusochara brevicylindrica assemblage (73.38-53.75 m) with few species,low abundance and small sizes of fossils. At 73.38 m core depth, the great changes of microfossils assemblages and carbon isotopes values (decrease by more than 3.0 per thousand) and oxygen isotopes values of bulk carbonates take place, which consist with the geological records of the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM). Hence, Paleocene-Eocene boundary of SanShui Basin should be roughly placed at 73.38 m core depth. (authors)

  2. Application of computer graphics to generate coal resources of the Cache coal bed, Recluse geologic model area, Campbell County, Wyoming

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schneider, G.B.; Crowley, S.S.; Carey, M.A.

    1982-01-01

    Low-sulfur subbituminous coal resources have been calculated, using both manual and computer methods, for the Cache coal bed in the Recluse Model Area, which covers the White Tail Butte, Pitch Draw, Recluse, and Homestead Draw SW 7 1/2 minute quadrangles, Campbell County, Wyoming. Approximately 275 coal thickness measurements obtained from drill hole data are evenly distributed throughout the area. The Cache coal and associated beds are in the Paleocene Tongue River Member of the Fort Union Formation. The depth from the surface to the Cache bed ranges from 269 to 1,257 feet. The thickness of the coal is as much as 31 feet, but in places the Cache coal bed is absent. Comparisons between hand-drawn and computer-generated isopach maps show minimal differences. Total coal resources calculated by computer show the bed to contain 2,316 million short tons or about 6.7 percent more than the hand-calculated figure of 2,160 million short tons.

  3. Deposit formation in a full-scale pulverized wood-fired power plant with and without coal fly ash addition

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Wu, Hao; Shafique Bashir, Muhammad; Jensen, Peter Arendt

    2013-01-01

    Ash transformation and deposition in a pulverized wood-fired power plant boiler of 800 MWth were studied with and without the addition of coal fly ash. The transient ash deposition behavior was investigated by using an advanced deposit probe system at two different boiler locations with flue gas...... at the low-temperature location showed a slow initial build-up and a stable mass of deposits after approximately 1-5 h. The deposits collected during pulverized wood combustion contained a considerable amount of K2SO4, KCl, and KOH/K2CO3. With the addition of coal fly ash (~4 times of the mass flow of wood...... ash) to the boiler, these alkali species were effectively removed both in the fly ash and in the deposits, and a more frequent shedding of the deposits was observed. The results imply that coal fly ash can be an effective additive to reduce ash deposition and corrosion problems in a pulverized wood...

  4. Characterization of coals from the Ravenscrag Formation, southern Saskatchewan, Canada

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    McDougall, W.J. (University of Regina, Regina, SK (Canada). Faculty of Science)

    1989-10-30

    Samples of economically important lignite reserves in the Ravenscrag Formation (Paleocene) of southern Saskatchewan are characterized by lithotype, maceral, microlithotype, and chemical analysis. The samples are from two cores and five reverse circulation drill boreholes from the Hart seam, Willow Bunch coalfield. Samples from four reverse circulation boreholes from the Souris seam, Estevan coalfield are characterized by maceral and chemical analysis. Coals from the Hart and Souris seams differ in rank, because of different thermal histories. A microlithotype classification developed for low rank coals is presented for Hart seam coals. 74 refs., 35 figs., 12 tabs.

  5. Assessment of 210Po deposition in moss species and soil around coal-fired power plant

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nita Salina Abu Bakar; Ahmad Saat

    2013-01-01

    In the present study, the depositions of 210 Po were assessed in the surface soil and some mosses species found in the area around coal fired power plant using radiochemical deposition and alpha spectrometry counting system. The purposes of the study were to determine activity concentrations of 210 Po in mosses and surface soil collected around coal-fired power plant in relation to trace the potential source of 210 Po and to identify most suitable moss species as a bio-indicator for 210 Po deposition. In this study, different species of mosses, Orthodontium imfractum, Campylopus serratus and Leucobryum aduncum were collected in May 2011 at the area around 15 km radius from Tanjung Bin coal-fired power plant located in Pontian, Johor. The 210 Po activity concentrations in mosses and soil varied in the range 102 ± 4 to 174 ± 8 Bq/kg dry wt. and 37 ± 2 to 184 ± 8 Bq/kg dry wt., respectively. Corresponding highest activity concentration of 210 Po observed in L. aduncum, therefore, this finding can be concluded this species was the most suitable as a bio-indicator for 210 Po deposition. On the other hand, it is clear the accumulation of 210 Po in mosses might be supplied from various sources of atmospheric deposition such as coal-fired power plant operation, industrial, plantation, agriculture and fertilizer activities, burned fuel fossil and forest; and other potential sources. Meanwhile, the main source of 210 Po in surface soil is supplied from the in situ deposition of radon decay and its daughters in the soil itself. (author)

  6. Leaching Process of Rare Earth Elements, Gallium and Niobium in a Coal-Bearing Strata-Hosted Rare Metal Deposit—A Case Study from the Late Permian Tuff in the Zhongliangshan Mine, Chongqing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jianhua Zou

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available The tuff, a part of coal-bearing strata, in the Zhongliangshan coal mine, Chongqing, southwestern China, hosts a rare metal deposit enriched in rare earth elements (REE, Ga and Nb. However, the extraction techniques directly related to the recovery of rare metals in coal-bearing strata have been little-studied in the literature. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the extractability of REE, Ga and Nb in the tuff in the Zhongliangshan mine using the alkaline sintering-water immersion-acid leaching (ASWIAL method. The results show that ASWIAL can separate and extract REE, Ga and Nb effectively under the optimized conditions of calcining at 860 °C for 0.5 h with a sample to sintering agent ratio of 1:1.5, immersing at 90 °C for 2 h with 150 mL hot water dosage, and leaching using 4 mol/L HCl at 40 °C for 2 h with a liquid-solid ratio of 20:1 (mL:g. The final leaching efficiencies of REE and Ga are up to 85.81% and 93.37%, respectively, whereas the leaching efficiency of Nb is less than 1%, suggesting the high concentration of Nb in the leaching residue, which needs further extraction.

  7. Trace elements in deposits of Jurassic paleovalleys of the Chulym-Yenisei depression - (Malinovskoe uranium deposit)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Potseluev, A.A.; Rikhvanov, L.P.; Arbuzov, S.I.; Lyapunov, P.I.; Rubinov, I.M.; Bazhenov, M.I.; Zadorin, L.I. [Tomsk Polytechnic University, Tomsk (Russian Federation)

    2001-07-01

    The REE composition of uraniferous alluvial deposits in the Malinovskaya paleovalley of the Chulym-Yenisei depression is studied. The contents of elements are determined by the INAA and X-ray fluorescent methods and by emission and X-ray spectroscopies. The minerals are identified by X-ray, luminescent, and laser analyses. The ore-bearing zone shows three types of elevated concentrations of elements: primary clastogene (W, Ge), primary sorption-biogenic (U, Se, Mo, V, As), and secondary redeposited infiltrogenic (elements of the first two types plus Hf, Sc, and REE). The high content of W is explained by its supply from primary deposits of the Altai-Sayan region, and the high content of Ge is due to the presence of fragments of Ge-bearing coals.

  8. Evaluation of ash deposits during experimental investigation of co-firing of Bosnian coal with wooden biomass

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Smajevic, Izet; Kazagic, Anes [JP Elektroprivreda BiH d.d., Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina); Sarajevo Univ. (Bosnia and Herzegovina). Faculty of Mechanical Engineering

    2008-07-01

    The paper is addressed to the development and use different criteria for evaluation of ash deposits collected during experimental co-firing of Bosnian coals with wooden biomass. Spruce saw dust was used for the co-firing tests with the Kakanj brown coal and with a lignite blend consisted of the Dubrave lignite and the Sikulje lignite. The coal/biomass mixtures at 93:7 %w and at 80:20 %w were tested. Experimental lab-scale facility PF entrained flow reactor is used for the co-firing tests. The reactor allows examination of fouling/slagging behaviors and emissions at various and infinitely variable process temperature which can be set at will in the range from ambient to 1560 C. Ash deposits are collected on two non-cooled ceramic probes and one water-cooled metal surface. Six different criteria are developed and used to evaluate behavior of the ash deposits on the probes: ash deposit shape, state and structure, which are analyzed visually - photographically and optically by a microscope, rate of adhesion and ash deposit strength, analyzed by physic acting to the ash deposits, and finally deposition rate, determined as a mass of the deposit divided by the collecting area and the time of collecting. Furthermore, chemical composition analysis and AFT of the ash deposits were also done to provide additional information on the deposits. (orig.)

  9. Ge distribution in the Wulantuga high-germanium coal deposit in the Shengli coalfield, Inner Mongolia, northeastern China

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Du, Gang [Key Laboratory of Marginal Sea Geology, Chinese Academy of Sciences (China)]|[Coal Geology Bureau of Inner Mongolia, Hohhot, 010051 (China); Zhuang, Xinguo [Institute of Sedimentary Basin and Mineral, Faculty of Earth Resources, China University of Geosciences, Hubei, 430074 (China)]|[State Key Laboratory of Geological Processes and Mineral Resources, China University of Geosciences, Hubei, 430074 (China); Querol, Xavier; Izquierdo, Maria; Alastuey, Andres; Moreno, Teresa; Font, Oriol [Institute of Earth Science ' Jaume Almera' , CSIC, C/ LLuis Sole Sabaris s/n, 08028 Barcelona (Spain)

    2009-03-01

    The geological and geochemical controls of the Ge distribution in the Cretaceous Wulantuga high-Germanium coal deposit in the Shengli coal field, Inner Mongolia are investigated. This paper focuses mainly on the spatial distribution of the Ge contents in coal. The high-Ge coals mainly occur in three splits of the 6 coal in the southwestern part of the Shengli coal field. Mean germanium contents in the coal range from 32 to 820 {mu}g/g, with a mean value of 137 {mu}g/g, on a bulk coal basis (mean of 939 coal samples from 75 boreholes in the 6 coal seam) in an area of 2.2 km{sup 2}. The highest Ge content occurs SW of 6 coal seam, close to the margins of the coal basin, decreasing with a fan-shaped trend towards NW, the direction of the coal basin. There is an negative correlation between the mean Ge content and the thickness of the coal seam. Different distribution patterns of Ge content were found in vertical profiles. High Ge concentrations may occur in the middle parts of coal seams, at the bottom and/or the top of thick coal seams and inconspicuous variation. A major organic affinity was determined for Ge, with a special enriched in the banded bright and semibright coal. The high-Ge coals and the coalified wood in the sandstone overlaying the 6-1 coal highly enriched in Ge, As, Sb, W, Cs, Tl, Be, and Hg. The Late Jurassic silicified volcanic rocks in the NW of the Ge coal deposit relatively high enriched in Ge, Ga, Sb, As, Cs, Be, Ge and Hg. The correlation coefficients among the elements enriched showed marked variations at close sites in this deposit, suggesting a possible diagenetic origin of the geochemical anomaly. The main Ge anomaly was attributed to early Cretaceous hydrothermal fluids circulating through the fault systems and porous volcanic rocs, probably from the subjacent granitoid rocks. The fault systems, the porous coarse clastic rocks overlying coal seam and the lithotype of coal played an important role in the transport and trapping of Ge. A

  10. In situ fossil seedlings of a Metasequoia-like taxodiaceous conifer from Paleocene river floodplain deposits of central Alberta, Canada.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Falder, A B; Stockey, R A; Rothwell, G W

    1999-06-01

    Fossil seeds and seedlings of a Metasequoia-like taxodiaceous conifer occur in Paleocene deposits at the Munce's Hill and Gao Mine localities of central Alberta, Canada. Compression/impression specimens are preserved in upright growth positions among seedlings of the cercidiphyllaceous dicot Joffrea speirsii Crane & Stockey. There are a large number of seeds, a few of which were buried while germinating and show a radicle or short primary root. More than 500 Metasequoia-like seedlings have been identified that have two linear cotyledons with parallel margins and rounded tips. Three specimens have been found that display three cotyledons. Slightly older seedlings show decussate pairs of leaves attached to the stem distal to the cotyledons. Still older seedlings have axillary branches that show varying sizes and numbers of opposite leaves arranged in a single plane distal to the opposite pairs. These specimens reveal that both Joffrea and this extinct taxodiaceous conifer were early colonizers of North American floodplain communities at the beginning of the Tertiary.

  11. A Possible Late Paleocene-Early Eocene Ocean Acidification Event Recoded in the Adriatic Carbonate Platform

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weiss, A.; Martindale, R. C.; Kosir, A.; Oefinger, J.

    2017-12-01

    The Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) event ( 56.3 Ma) was a period of massive carbon release into the Earth system, resulting in significant shifts in ocean chemistry. It has been proposed that ocean acidification - a decrease in the pH and carbonate saturation state of the water as a result of dissolved carbon dioxide in sea water - occurred in both the shallow and deep marine realms. Ocean acidification would have had a devastating impact on the benthic ecosystem, and has been proposed as the cause of decreased carbonate deposition in marine sections and coral reef collapse during the late Paleocene. To date, however, the only physical evidence of Paleocene-Eocene ocean acidification has been shown for offshore sites (i.e., a shallow carbonate compensation depth), but isotope analysis (i.e. B, I/Ca) suggests that acidification occurred in the shallow shelves as well. Several sites in the Kras region of Slovenia, has been found to contain apparent erosion surfaces coeval with the Paleocene-Eocene Boundary. We have investigated these potentially acidified horizons using petrography, stable carbon isotopes, cathodoluminescence, and elemental mapping. These datasets will inform whether the horizons formed by seafloor dissolution in an acidified ocean, or are due to subaerial exposure, or burial diagenesis (i.e. stylotization). Physical erosion and diagenesis can easily be ruled out based on field relationships and petrography, but the other potential causes must be analyzed more critically.

  12. ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION THROUGH DETECTION OF HOT SPOTS USING THERMOGRAPHY IN COAL DEPOSITS BEFORE SELF IGNITION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alina DINCĂ

    2009-12-01

    Full Text Available In this paper is presented a way to contribute to the environmental protection when it comes to coal which waits in big deposits to be burned for energy production. Because of certain parameters, in some places, the deposited coal could overheat and self ignite, thus loosing its caloric properties and even lead to fire. In this case the losses could be even higher, and the effect on the environment even worse. In order to prevent this self ignition to happen, an infrared camera can be mounted on a system, and the camera together with software which interprets the thermographic images, can alarm the personnel who is in charge with coal surveillance that the coal will ignite unless they take immediate measures. Also, there will be presented the limits we have found by now in the way of finalizing the application.

  13. Prospecting for coal in China with remote sensing

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ke-long Tan; Yu-qing Wan; Sun-xin Sun; Gui-bao Bao; Jing-shui Kuang [Aerophotogrammetry and Remote Sensing Center of China Coal, Xi' an (China)

    2008-12-15

    In China it is important to explore coal prospecting by taking advantage of modern remote sensing and geographic information system technologies. Given a theoretical basis for coal prospecting by remote sensing, the methodologies and existing problems are demonstrated systematically by summarizing past practices of coal prospecting with remote sensing. A new theory of coal prospecting with remote sensing is proposed. In uncovered areas, coal resources can be prospected by direct interpretation. In coal bearing strata of developed areas covered by thin Quaternary strata or vegetation, prospecting for coal can be carried out by indirect interpretation of geomorphology and vegetation. For deeply buried underground deposits, coal prospecting can rely on tectonic structures, interpretation and analysis of new tectonic clues and regularity of coal formation and preservation controlled by tectonic structures. By applying newly hyper-spectral, multi-polarization, multi-angle, multi-temporal and multi-resolution remote sensing data and carrying out integrated analysis of geographic attributes, ground attributes, geophysical exploration results, geochemical exploration results, geological drilling results and remote sensing data by GIS tools, coal geology resources and mineralogical regularities can be explored and coal resource information can be acquired with some confidence. 12 refs., 4 figs., 3 tabs.

  14. Evolution of ore-bearing material sources of endogenous uranium deposits

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kazansk, V.I.; Laverov, N.P.; Tugarinov, A.I.

    1976-01-01

    Considered are the regularities of changes in types and conditions of uranium deposit formation in connection with the general development of the earth crust tectonic structures. Out of pre-Kembrian uranium deposits considered are Vitwatersrand conglomerates, hydrothermal deposits in pre-Kembrian iron quartzites in the areas of regional fractures in exocontacts of big multiphase granitoid massifs of Proterozoic age and in the fundament folded structures. The hydrothermal-metamorphogen theory is supported of the origin of uranium-bearing sodium metasomatite of Proterozoic, including uranium deposits in the area of the Atabaska lake. Four genetic classes of Palaeozoic deposits are considered. Four periods are singled out in the development of Palaeozoic uranium provinces. Most of the Palaeozoic deposits are shown to be of polygenous origin. Mesozoic deposits are also polygenous, but the combination of ore substance sources in them is more complex

  15. Consultancy in the development of coal deposits all over the world

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gold, R.; Schiebel, W.

    1977-04-01

    Dr. Otto Gold, Consulting Engineers, Cologne, are working as consultants in the area of prospecting, exploration and development of lignite deposits. Some projects successfully carried out are reported on, being an example for other consulting projects on the coal sector.

  16. Relationship between weathered coal deposits and the etiology of Balkan endemic nephropathy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Feder, G.L.; Radovanovic, Z.; Finkelman, R.B.

    1991-01-01

    Field studies in epidemiology and environmental geochemistry in areas in Yugoslavia containing villages with a high incidence of Balkan endemic nephropathy (BEN), indicate a possible relationship between the presence of low-rank coal deposits and the etiology of BEN. Preliminary results from qualitative chemical analyses of drinking water from shallow farm wells indicate the presence of soluble polar aromatic and polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons. These compounds may be derived from weathering of low-rank coals occurring in the vicinity of the endemic villages. All of the endemic villages are in alluvial valleys of tributaries to the Danube River. All except one of the clusters of endemic villages are located in the vicinity of known Pliocene age coals. Detailed sampling of the drinking waters and the nearby coals are being undertaken to identify a possible etiologic factor

  17. Analysis of flammability limits for the liquefaction process of oxygen-bearing coal-bed methane

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Li, Q.Y.; Wang, L.; Ju, Y.L.

    2011-01-01

    Highlights: → A novel liquefaction and distillation process is designed for oxygen bearing coal-bed methane. → Oxygen contained in coal-bed methane is removed in distillation process. → Flammability limits are analyzed for the whole operation process. → We find explosion hazard may exist in distillation tower. → Effective measures are proposed to ensure the operation safety in distillation tower. - Abstract: A novel liquefaction and distillation process has been proposed and designed for the typical oxygen-bearing coal-bed methane (CBM), in which the impurities of the oxygen and nitrogen components are removed in the distillation column. The flammability limit theory combining with HYSYS simulation results are employed to analyze and calculate the flammability limits and the results indicate that no flammability hazard exists in the stages of compression, liquefaction and throttling. However, flammability hazard exists at the top the distillation column because the methane mole fraction decreases to the value below the upper flammability limit (UFL). The safety measures of initially removing oxygen content from the feed gas combining with the control of the bottom flowrate (flowrate of the liquid product at column bottom) are proposed to ensure the operation safety of the liquefaction process. The results reveal that the operation safety of the whole process can be guaranteed, together with high methane recovery rate and high purity of the liquid product. The applicability of the liquefaction process has also been analyzed in this paper. The simulation results can offer references for the separation of oxygen from CBM, the analysis of flammability limits and the safety measures for the whole process.

  18. Petrographic characteristics and depositional environment of Miocene Can coals, Canakkale-Turkey

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Guerdal, Guelbin; Bozcu, Mustafa [Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Engineering and Architecture Faculty (Turkey)

    2011-01-01

    In this study, petrographic examinations along with proximate, calorific value, ultimate, sulphur form and XRD analyses were performed in order to determine the coal characteristics and the depositional environment of the Miocene Can coals. Seventy coal samples were taken from cores and open pit mines. The investigated Can coals are humic coals and classified as lignite to sub-bituminous coal based on the random huminite reflectance (0.38-0.54% R{sub r}), volatile matter (45.50-62.25 wt.%, daf) and calorific value (3419-6479 kcal/kg, maf). The sulphur content of the Can coals changes from 0.30 up to 12.23 wt.%, and a broad range of ash contents was observed varying between 2.46 wt.% and 41.19 wt.%. Huminite is the most abundant maceral group (74-95 vol.% mmf) consisting of mostly humocollinite (gelinite) which is followed by relatively low liptinite (2-18 vol.% mmf) and inertinite content (2-13 vol.% mmf). In general, major mineral contents of coal samples are clay minerals, quartz, mica, pyrite and feldspar. The Can-Etili lignite basin consists of mainly volcano-clastics, fluviatile and lacustrine clastic sediments and contains only one lignite seam with 17 m average thickness. In order to assess the development of paleo-mires, coal facies diagrams were obtained from maceral composition. According to the Vegetation Index (VI) and Ground Water Index (GWI), the Can coal accumulated in inundated marsh, limnic and swamp environments under a rheotrophic hydrological regime. In general, the facies interpretations are in accordance with the observed sedimentalogical data. (author)

  19. Mineralogical investigations into ash deposits of selected brown coals; Mineralogische Untersuchungen an Ascheansaetzen ausgewaehlter Braunkohlen

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Szilagyi, J.; Ullrich, B. [Technische Univ. Dresden, Inst. fuer Geotechnik (Germany)

    2003-07-01

    Within the framework of the research project financed by the Arbeitsgemeinschaft industrieller Forschungsvereinigungen (AIF) ''Experimental investigations into the formation of ash deposits from stack gases during the combustion of pulverised lignite'' and supervised by the chair of power station technology (Institute of Energy Technology) of the Dresden Technical University, the mineral composition of ash deposits of six different coals were investigated: two coal blends (different countries worldwide), two lignites from east from the River Elbe (types WM and JAe), one from west of the River Elbe and one Rhenish lignite. (orig.)

  20. First Clarkforkian equivalent Land Mammal Age in the latest Paleocene basal Sparnacian facies of Europe: fauna, flora, paleoenvironment and (bio)stratigraphy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Thierry; Quesnel, Florence; De Plöeg, Gaël; De Franceschi, Dario; Métais, Grégoire; De Bast, Eric; Solé, Floréal; Folie, Annelise; Boura, Anaïs; Claude, Julien; Dupuis, Christian; Gagnaison, Cyril; Iakovleva, Alina; Martin, Jeremy; Maubert, François; Prieur, Judicaël; Roche, Emile; Storme, Jean-Yves; Thomas, Romain; Tong, Haiyan; Yans, Johan; Buffetaut, Eric

    2014-01-01

    The Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) is correlated with the first occurrences of earliest modern mammals in the Northern Hemisphere. The latest Paleocene Clarkforkian North American Land Mammal Age, that has yielded rodents and carnivorans, is the only exception to this rule. However, until now no pre-PETM localities have yielded modern mammals in Europe or Asia. We report the first Clarkforkian equivalent Land Mammal Age in the latest Paleocene deposits of the basal Sparnacian facies at Rivecourt, in the north-central part of the Paris Basin. The new terrestrial vertebrate and macroflora assemblages are analyzed through a multidisciplinary study including sedimentologic, stratigraphic, isotopic, and palynological aspects in order to reconstruct the paleoenvironment and to evaluate biochronologic and paleogeographic implications. The mammals are moderately diverse and not abundant, contrary to turtles and champsosaurs. The macroflora is exceptional in preservation and diversity with numerous angiosperms represented by flowers, fruits, seeds and wood preserved as lignite material, revealing an abundance of Arecaceae, Betulaceae, Icacinaceae, Menispermaceae, Vitaceae and probably Cornaceae. Results indicate a Late Paleocene age based on carbon isotope data, palynology and vertebrate occurrences such as the choristoderan Champsosaurus, the arctocyonid Arctocyon, and the plesiadapid Plesiadapis tricuspidens. However, several mammal species compare better with the earliest Eocene. Among these, the particular louisinid Teilhardimys musculus, also recorded from the latest Paleocene of the Spanish Pyrenees, suggests a younger age than the typical MP6 reference level. Nevertheless, the most important aspect of the Rivecourt fauna is the presence of dental remains of a rodent and a "miacid" carnivoran, attesting to the presence of two modern mammalian orders in the latest Paleocene of Europe. Interestingly, these two groups are also the only modern groups recorded

  1. On the bi-dimensional variational decomposition applied to nonstationary vibration signals for rolling bearing crack detection in coal cutters

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jiang, Yu; Li, Zhixiong; Zhang, Chao; Peng, Z; Hu, Chao

    2016-01-01

    This work aims to detect rolling bearing cracks using a variational approach. An original method that appropriately incorporates bi-dimensional variational mode decomposition (BVMD) into discriminant diffusion maps (DDM) is proposed to analyze the nonstationary vibration signals recorded from the cracked rolling bearings in coal cutters. The advantage of this variational decomposition based diffusion map (VDDM) method in comparison to the current DDM is that the intrinsic vibration mode of the crack can be filtered into a limited bandwidth in the frequency domain with an estimated central frequency, thus discarding the interference signal components in the vibration signals and significantly improving the crack detection performance. In addition, the VDDM is able to simultaneously process two-channel sensor signals to reduce information leakage. Experimental validation using rolling bearing crack vibration signals demonstrates that the VDDM separated the raw signals into four intrinsic modes, including one roller vibration mode, one roller cage vibration mode, one inner race vibration mode, and one outer race vibration mode. Hence, reliable fault features were extracted from the outer race vibration mode, and satisfactory crack identification performance was achieved. The comparison between the proposed VDDM and existing approaches indicated that the VDDM method was more efficient and reliable for crack detection in coal cutter rolling bearings. As an effective catalyst for rolling bearing crack detection, this newly proposed method is useful for practical applications. (paper)

  2. Characterization of Egyptian coal from Sinai using Moessbauer spectroscopy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Eissa, N.A.; Abdel Meguid, M.M.; Deriu, A.; Albanese, G.

    1983-08-01

    The presence of iron bearing minerals in coal makes the Moessbauer Spectroscopy (MS) extremely useful for characterization of coals from different localities. In this paper the MS has been applied to characterize Egyptian coal from Sinai (Maghara). The chemical analysis of this coal is given. The MS results showed that pyritic sulphur (pyrite and marcasite) is the only bearing mineral in Egyptian coal. A review is given for the iron bearing minerals in coals from different countries measured by MS. (author)

  3. Briquetability of coal fines from the Lavci deposit near Resen. Briketabilnost sitnih frakcija uglja sa lezista Lavci kod Resena

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jankuloska, V.; Cadikovska, V. (Rudnici i Zelezarnica, Skopje (Yugoslavia))

    1990-01-01

    Describes laboratory briquetting of lignite from the Lavci coal deposit in Macedonia, Yugoslavia. The deposit has 21.4 Mt of lignite reserves. Coal samples from cores of exploratory boreholes were evaluated. Chemical composition and properties of the coal are presented. The coal has a 60.8% moisture, 7.8% ash and 0.82% sulfur content. The calorific value of coal is between 5,881 and 7,828 kJ/kg. Coal samples were comminuted and briquetted without binders, due to the favorable petrographic composition of the lignite. Resulting laboratory briquets weighing 45 g were tested for compression strength, water resistance and abrasion (Micum test). Briquet combustion properties were also determined. Briquet quality was of Yugoslav class B[sub 1] and B[sub 2] with the lowest calorific value being 16,427 kJ/kg, which is 2.79 times higher than that of the raw coal. 3 refs.

  4. The Paleocene and lower Eocene pollen flora of Guyana

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Leidelmeyer, P.

    1966-01-01

    A description is given of a Paleocene and Lower Eocene pollen flora of two bore-holes in Guana. Some new species are described and some remarks are made on their stratigraphical significance. Pollen diagrams are presented, one probably representing the entire Paleocene and a part of the Eocene.

  5. Eocene bituminous coal deposits of the Claiborne group, Webb County, Texas

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hook, Robert W.; Warwick, Peter D.; Warwick, Peter D.; Karlsen, Alexander K.; Merrill, Matthew D.; Valentine, Brett J.

    2011-01-01

    Two bituminous coal zones, the San Pedro and the Santo Tomas, in the middle Eocene Claiborne Group of Webb County, south Texas (Figure 1), are among the coal resources that are not evaluated quantitatively as part of the current Gulf Coastal Plain coal resource assessment. Coal beds within these zones were mined by underground methods northwest of Laredo until 1939 and have been intermittently mined at the surface since 1979. These coals have long been regarded as unique within the Gulf Coast Tertiary coal-bearing section because they are high-volatile C bituminous in rank and because their physical characteristics resemble upper Carboniferous cannel coals of the Appalachians and Europe.Discontinuous exposures of the Santo Tomas and the underlying San Pedro coal zone extend northwestward from Dolores for approximately 15 to 21 mi along the breaks of the Rio Grande and its tributaries in Webb County (Figure 1). This part of south Texas lies along the southwestern flank of the Rio Grande Embayment, which extends south and southeastwardly through the Mexican States of Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas (Figure 1). Within the embayment, the lower to middle part of the Claiborne Group consists of marine mudstones (Reklaw Formation) in the east and northeast and sandstones and mudstones (Bigford Formation) in the south and southwest (Figure 2). The marine mudstones coarsen upward into fluvial-deltaic sandstones (Queen City Sand) that prograded gulfward across eastern and central Texas (Guevara and Garcia, 1972). To the west and southwest, the interval overlying the Bigford Formation becomes less sandy, and claystones (El Pico Clay) predominate. Although the San Pedro coal zone has been placed traditionally near the top of the Bigford Formation and the Santo Tomas coal zone near the base of the El Pico Clay, recent work has failed to validate a mappable contact between these formations (Warwick and Hook, 1995). The coal beds dip northeast at less than 2 degrees towards

  6. Depositional sequence stratigraphy and architecture of the cretaceous ferron sandstone: Implications for coal and coalbed methane resources - A field excursion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Garrison, J.R.; Van Den, Bergh; Barker, C.E.; Tabet, D.E.

    1997-01-01

    This Field Excursion will visit outcrops of the fluvial-deltaic Upper Cretaceous (Turonian) Ferron Sandstone Member of the Mancos Shale, known as the Last Chance delta or Upper Ferron Sandstone. This field guide and the field stops will outline the architecture and depositional sequence stratigraphy of the Upper Ferron Sandstone clastic wedge and explore the stratigraphic positions and compositions of major coal zones. The implications of the architecture and stratigraphy of the Ferron fluvial-deltaic complex for coal and coalbed methane resources will be discussed. Early works suggested that the southwesterly derived deltaic deposits of the the upper Ferron Sandstone clastic wedge were a Type-2 third-order depositional sequence, informally called the Ferron Sequence. These works suggested that the Ferron Sequence is separated by a type-2 sequence boundary from the underlying 3rd-order Hyatti Sequence, which has its sediment source from the northwest. Within the 3rd-order depositional sequence, the deltaic events of the Ferron clastic wedge, recognized as parasequence sets, appear to be stacked into progradational, aggradational, and retrogradational patterns reflecting a generally decreasing sediment supply during an overall slow sea-level rise. The architecture of both near-marine facies and non-marine fluvial facies exhibit well defined trends in response to this decrease in available sediment. Recent studies have concluded that, unless coincident with a depositional sequence boundary, regionally extensive coal zones occur at the tops of the parasequence sets within the Ferron clastic wedge. These coal zones consist of coal seams and their laterally equivalent fissile carbonaceous shales, mudstones, and siltstones, paleosols, and flood plain mudstones. Although the compositions of coal zones vary along depositional dip, the presence of these laterally extensive stratigraphic horizons, above parasequence sets, provides a means of correlating and defining the tops

  7. Paleocene to Middle Miocene planktic foraminifera of the southwestern Salisbury Embayment, Virginia and Maryland: biostratigraphy, allostratigraphy, and sequence stratigraphy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Poag, C.W.; Commeau, J.A.

    1995-01-01

    The Paleocene to Middle Miocene sedimentary fill of the southwestern Salisbury Embayment contains a fragmental depositional record, interrupted by numerous local diastems and regional unconformities. Using planktic foraminiferal biostratigraphy, 15 unconformity-bounded depositional units have been identified, assigned to six formations and seven alloformations previously recognized in the embayment. The units correlate with second- and third-order sequences of the Exxon sequence stratigraphy model, and include transgressive and highstand systems tracts. Alloformation, formation, and sequence boundaries are marked by abrupt, scoured, burrowed, erosional surfaces, which display lag deposits, biostratigraphic gaps, and intense reworking of microfossils above and below the boundaries.Paleocene deposits represent the upper parts of upper Pleocene Biochronozones P4 and P5, and rest uncomformably  on Cretaceous sedimentary beds of various ages (Maastrichtian to Albian). Lower Eocene deposits represent parts of Biochronozones P6 and P9. Middle Eocene strata represent mainly parts of Biochronozones P11, P12, and P14. Upper Eocene sediments include parts of Biochronozones P15, P16, and P17. Oligocene deposits encompass parts of Biochronozones. N4b to N7 undifferentiated, P21a, and, perhaps, N4a. Lower Miocene deposits encompass parts of Biochronozones N4b to N7 undifferentiated. Middle Miocene strata represent mainly parts of Biochronorones N8, N9, and N10.Nine plates of scanning electron micrographs illustrate the principal planktic foraminifera used to establish the biostratigraphic framework. Two new informal formine of Praeterenuitella praegemma Li, 1987, are introduced.

  8. Non-mine technology of hydrocarbon resources production at complex development of gas and coal deposits

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Saginov, A.S.; Adilov, K.N.; Akhmetbekov, Sh.U.

    1997-01-01

    Non-mine technology of coal gas seams exploitation is new geological technological method of complex exploitation of coal gas deposits. The method allows sequentially to extract hydrocarbon resources in technological aggregative-mobile condensed states. According to natural methane content in seams the technology includes: methane extraction from sorption volume where it is bounded up with coal; gas output intensification of coal is due to structural changes of substance at the cost of physico-chemical treatment of seam; increase of seam permeability by the methods of active physical and physico-chemical actions on coal seam (hydro-uncovering, pneumatic hydro action etc.). Pilot testing shows efficiency of well mastering with help of depth pumps. In this case works of action of pumping out of operating liquid and gas extraction from coal seam are integrated

  9. Full-scale ash deposition measurements at Avedøre Power Plant unit 2 during suspension-firing of wood with and without coal ash addition

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Wu, Hao; Shafique Bashir, Muhammad; Jensen, Peter Arendt

    The formation of deposits during suspension-firing of wood at Avedøre Power Plant unit 2 (AVV2) was studied by using an advanced deposit probe system. The tests were conducted both with and without coal ash addition, and at two different locations with flue gas temperatures of 1250-1300 oC and 750...... with a high flue gas temperature of 1250-1300 oC, although the addition of coal fly ash increased the differential deposit formation rate (DDF-rate) and the ash deposition propensity, the deposit removal frequency were considerably increased and the major shedding mechanism was changed from soot...... corrosion. At the location with a low flue gas temperature of 750-800 oC, the addition of coal fly ash reduced the ash deposition propensity and caused the formed deposits being easily removable. Moreover, the KCl and KOH/K2CO3 found in the low-temperature deposits without coal ash addition disappeared when...

  10. Lithostratigraphy of the Cretaceous–Paleocene Nuussuaq Group, Nuussuaq Basin, West Greenland

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dam, Gregers

    2009-12-01

    Full Text Available The Nuussuaq Basin is the only exposed Cretaceous–Paleocene sedimentary basin in West Greenland and is one of a complex of linked rift basins stretching from the Labrador Sea to northern Baffin Bay. These basins developed along West Greenland as a result of the opening of the Labrador Sea in Late Mesozoic to Early Cenozoic times. The Nuussuaq Basin is exposed in West Greenland between 69°N and 72°N on Disko, Nuussuaq, Upernivik Ø, Qeqertarsuaq, Itsaku and Svartenhuk Halvø and has also been recorded in a number of shallow and deep wells in the region. The sediments are assigned to the more than 6 km thick Nuussuaq Group (new which underlies the Palaeogene plateau basalts of the West Greenland Basalt Group. The sediment thickness is best estimated from seismic data; in the western part of the area, seismic and magnetic data suggest that the succession is at least 6 km and possibly as much as 10 km thick. The exposed Albian–Paleocene part of the succession testifies to two main episodes of regional rifting and basin development: an EarlyCretaceous and a Late Cretaceous – Early Paleocene episode prior to the start of sea-floor spreading in mid-Paleocene time. This exposed section includes fan delta, fluviodeltaic, shelfal and deepmarine deposits. The Nuussuaq Group is divided into ten formations, most of which have previously been only briefly described, with the exception of their macrofossil content. In ascending stratigraphic order, the formations are: the Kome Formation, the Slibestensfjeldet Formation (new, the Upernivik Næs Formation, the Atane Formation (including four new members – the Skansen, Ravn Kløft, Kingittoq and Qilakitsoq Members – and one new bed, the Itivnera Bed, the Itilli Formation (new, including four new members: the Anariartorfik, Umiivik, Kussinerujuk and Aaffarsuaq Members, the Kangilia Formation (including the revised Annertuneq Conglomerate Member andthe new Oyster–Ammonite Conglomerate Bed, the

  11. Effect of fuel type and deposition surface temperature on the growth and structure of ash deposit collected during co-firing of coal with sewage-sludge, saw-dust and refuse derived fuel

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kupka, Tomasz; Zajac, Krzysztof; Weber, Roman [Clausthal Univ. of Technology, Clausthal-Zellerfeld (Germany). Inst. of Energy Process Engineering and Fuel Technology

    2008-07-01

    Blends of a South African bituminous ''Middleburg'' coal and three alternative fuels (a municipal sewage-sludge, a saw-dust and a refuse derived fuel) have been fired in the slagging reactor to examine the effect of the added fuel on slagging propensity of the mixtures. Two kinds of deposition probes have been used, un-cooled ceramic probes and air-cooled steal probes. Distinct differences in physical and chemical structures of the deposits collected using the un-cooled ceramic probes and air-cooled metal probes have been observed. Glassy, easily molten deposits collected on un-cooled ceramic deposition probes were characteristic for co-firing of municipal sewage-sludge with coal. Porous, sintered (not molten) but easily removable deposits of the same fuel blend have been collected on the air-cooled metal deposition probes. Loose, easy removable deposits have been sampled on air-cooled metal deposition probe during co-firing of coal/saw-dust blends. The mass of the deposit sampled at lower surface temperatures (550-700 C) was always larger than the mass sampled at higher temperatures (1100-1300 C) since the higher temperature ash agglomerated and sintered much faster than the low temperature deposit. (orig.)

  12. Field metabolic rate and PCB adipose tissue deposition efficiency in East Greenland polar bears derived from contaminant monitoring data.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pavlova, Viola; Nabe-Nielsen, Jacob; Dietz, Rune; Svenning, Jens-Christian; Vorkamp, Katrin; Rigét, Frank Farsø; Sonne, Christian; Letcher, Robert J; Grimm, Volker

    2014-01-01

    Climate change will increasingly affect the natural habitat and diet of polar bears (Ursus maritimus). Understanding the energetic needs of polar bears is therefore important. We developed a theoretical method for estimating polar bear food consumption based on using the highly recalcitrant polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congener, 2,2',4,4',55-hexaCB (CB153) in bear adipose tissue as an indicator of food intake. By comparing the CB153 tissue concentrations in wild polar bears with estimates from a purposely designed individual-based model, we identified the possible combinations of field metabolic rates (FMR) and CB153 deposition efficiencies in East Greenland polar bears. Our simulations indicate that if 30% of the CB153 consumed by polar bear individuals were deposited into their adipose tissue, the corresponding FMR would be only two times the basal metabolic rate. In contrast, if the modelled CB153 deposition efficiency were 10%, adult polar bears would require six times more energy than that needed to cover basal metabolism. This is considerably higher than what has been assumed for polar bears in previous studies though it is similar to FMRs found in other marine mammals. An implication of this result is that even relatively small reductions in future feeding opportunities could impact the survival of East Greenland polar bears.

  13. Composition and microstructure of a furnace ash deposit from a coal-fired utility boiler

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Fessler, R R

    1980-07-01

    An exploratory study of the structure and composition of furnace-ash deposits was carried out using optical metallography, electron microprobe analysis, scanning electron microscopy, and energy-dispersive X-ray analysis. The results of these analyses were supplemented by studies of particulate melting temperature using hot-stage microscopy to measure melting temperature, and energy-dispersive X-ray analyses to measure composition of melted particles. It was found that the general structure of the ash deposit was a matrix of glassy, spherical particles having a wide range of composition in which unfused particles containing iron oxide and calcium oxide were dispersed. At the imprint of the tube surface a considerable concentration of calcium, sulphur and iron was found. Near the fused outer surface of the deposit, the glassy materials had melted into a porous, glassy slag containing spherical globules of iron oxide combined with other materials. There were no systematic compositional gradients from the tube surface to the fused outer layer except for the sulfur layer found only at the tube surface. However, there were significant differences in composition from particle to particle and these differences were similar to those found in the coal mineral matter as isolated by low-temperature ashing. Single particles of low-temperature ash were found having low fusion temperatures, in the range of fusion temperatures for particles in furnance has. Thus, the glassy spheres found in furnace deposits could originate from single coal particles, without the need of interactions among coal particles or ash particles.

  14. Impact of coal fly ash addition on ash transformation and deposition in a full-scale wood suspension-firing boiler

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Wu, Hao; Bashir, Muhammad Shafique; Jensen, Peter Arendt

    2013-01-01

    Ash transformation and deposition during pulverized wood combustion in a full-scale power plant boiler of 800 MWth were studied with and without the addition of coal fly ash. The transient ash deposition behavior was characterized by using an advanced deposit probe system at two boiler locations...... constant after a few hours. The formed deposits, especially those at the location with low flue gas temperatures, contained a considerable amount of K2SO4, KCl, and KOH/K2CO3. With the addition of a large amount (about 4 times of the mass flow of wood ash) of coal fly ash to the boiler, these alkali...

  15. Field metabolic rate and PCB adipose tissue deposition efficiency in East Greenland polar bears derived from contaminant monitoring data.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Viola Pavlova

    Full Text Available Climate change will increasingly affect the natural habitat and diet of polar bears (Ursus maritimus. Understanding the energetic needs of polar bears is therefore important. We developed a theoretical method for estimating polar bear food consumption based on using the highly recalcitrant polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB congener, 2,2',4,4',55-hexaCB (CB153 in bear adipose tissue as an indicator of food intake. By comparing the CB153 tissue concentrations in wild polar bears with estimates from a purposely designed individual-based model, we identified the possible combinations of field metabolic rates (FMR and CB153 deposition efficiencies in East Greenland polar bears. Our simulations indicate that if 30% of the CB153 consumed by polar bear individuals were deposited into their adipose tissue, the corresponding FMR would be only two times the basal metabolic rate. In contrast, if the modelled CB153 deposition efficiency were 10%, adult polar bears would require six times more energy than that needed to cover basal metabolism. This is considerably higher than what has been assumed for polar bears in previous studies though it is similar to FMRs found in other marine mammals. An implication of this result is that even relatively small reductions in future feeding opportunities could impact the survival of East Greenland polar bears.

  16. Robotic complex for the development of thick steeply-inclined coal seams and ore deposits

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nikitenko, M. S.; Malakhov, Yu V.; Neogi, Biswarup; Chakraborty, Pritam; Banerjee, Dipesu

    2017-09-01

    Proposal for the formulation of robotic complexes for steeply inclined coal seams as a basis of the supportive-enclosing walking module and power support with a controlled outlet for mining industry has been represented in this literature. In mining industry, the available resource base reserves and mineral deposits are concentrated deep down the earth crust leading towards a complicated geological condition i.e. abrupt ore bedding and steeply inclined strata with the high gas content and fire hazard of thick coal stratum, heading against an unfavorable and sometimes human labor life risk during subversive mining. Prevailing towards the development of effective robotic complexes based on the means of “unmanned technologies” for extraction of minerals from hard-to-reach deposits and make sure the safety of underground staff during sublevel mining technology.

  17. Variability of Mercury Content in Coal Matter From Coal Seams of The Upper Silesia Coal Basin

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wierzchowski, Krzysztof; Chećko, Jarosław; Pyka, Ireneusz

    2017-12-01

    The process of identifying and documenting the quality parameters of coal, as well as the conditions of coal deposition in the seam, is multi-stage and extremely expensive. The taking and analyzing of seam samples is the method of assessment of the quality and quantity parameters of coals in deep mines. Depending on the method of sampling, it offers quite precise assessment of the quality parameters of potential commercial coals. The main kind of seam samples under consideration are so-called "documentary seam samples", which exclude dirt bands and other seam contaminants. Mercury content in coal matter from the currently accessible and exploited coal seams of the Upper Silesian Coal Basin (USCB) was assessed. It was noted that the mercury content in coal seams decreases with the age of the seam and, to a lesser extent, seam deposition depth. Maps of the variation of mercury content in selected lithostratigraphic units (layers) of the Upper Silesian Coal Basin have been created.

  18. Experimental investigation of ash deposits characteristics of co-combustion of coal and rice hull using a digital image technique

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Qiu, Kunzan; Zhang, Hailong; Zhou, Hao; Zhou, Bin; Li, Letian; Cen, Kefa

    2014-01-01

    This paper investigated the ash deposit characteristics during the co-firing Da Tong (DA) coal with different proportions of rice hull (0%, 5%, 10%, and 20%, based on weight) in a pilot-scale furnace. The growth of ash deposit with a four-stage mode was presented. The stable thickness values of DA coal, 5% rice hull, 10% rice hull, and 20% rice hull were 0.5, 1.4, 2.9, 5.7 cm, with stable heat flux values of 230, 200, 175, and 125 kW/m 2 , respectively. According to the results of scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray analysis (SEM-EDX), the amount of Si in the deposits increased with the increasing proportion of rice hull rich in SiO 2 . The X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis results indicated that most elements except Si were in the amorphous state because of the formation of eutectics. The stable thicknesses of deposits increased exponentially with the proportion of rice hull. The deposit was loose, easy removable but it reduced the heat transfer significantly. Consequently, sootblowing timely was necessary when co-firing DA coal with rice hull. - Highlights: • Digital image technique was used to monitor deposits growth process. • A type of four stages mode of ash deposit growth was presented. • The heat flux of ash deposits fit a three-stage mode. • The addition of rice hull increased the porosity of deposits

  19. Mineral potential of Malawai. 3. Mineral deposits associated with sedimentary and volcanic cover rocks: Karoo and post-Karoo (coal, uranium, industrial minerals and gemstone)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    2009-07-01

    This report was produced for the Ministry of Energy and Mines of Malawi. It gives information and maps of uranium deposits, coal deposits, coal-bed methane, natural gas and helium potential, limestone deposits and gemstones (blue agate, chalcedony and kimerlites, the primary source of diamonds). 2 figs., 2 tabs., 4 maps, 5 photos.

  20. Eocene Yegua Formation (Claiborne group) and Jackson group lignite deposits of Texas

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hook, Robert W.; Warwick, Peter D.; Swanson, Sharon M.; Hackley, Paul C.; Warwick, Peter D.; Karlsen, Alexander K.; Merrill, Matthew D.; Valentine, Brett J.

    2011-01-01

    The lignite deposits within the upper Eocene Yegua Formation (Claiborne Group) and the overlying Jackson Group are among the coal resources that were not quantitatively assessed as part of the U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) National Coal Resource Assessment (NCRA) program in the Gulf Coastal Plain coal province. In the past, these lignite-bearing stratigraphic units often have been evaluated together because of their geographic and stratigraphic proximity (Fisher, 1963; Kaiser, 1974; Kaiser et al., 1980; Jackson and Garner, 1982; Kaiser, 1996) (Figures 1, 2). The term “Yegua-Jackson trend“ is used informally herein for the lignite-bearing outcrops of these Late Eocene deposits in Texas. Lignite beds in the Yegua-Jackson trend generally are higher both in ash yield and sulfur content than those of the underlying Wilcox Group (Figure 2). Recent studies (Senkayi et al., 1987; Ruppert et al., 1994; Warwick et al., 1996, 1997) have shown that some lignite beds within the Yegua-Jackson trend contain partings of volcanic ash and host elevated levels of trace elements that have been identified as potentially hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) in the United States Clean Air Amendments of 1990. Lignite beds within the Yegua Formation are thin (less than or equal to 6 ft) and laterally discontinuous in comparison with most Wilcox Group deposits (Ayers, 1989a); in contrast, the Jackson Group lignite beds range up to 12 ft in total thickness and are relatively continuous laterally, extending nearly 32 mi along strike.

  1. Deposit growth and property development in coal-fired furnaces

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Baxter, L. [Sandia National Lab., Livermore, CA (United States)

    1995-11-01

    The objectives of this research project are: (1) to provide a self-consistent database of simultaneously measured, time-resolved ash deposit properties in well-controlled and well-defined environments and (2) to provide analytical expressions that relate deposit composition and structure to deposit properties of immediate relevance to PETC`s Combustion 2000 program. This project is distinguished from related work being done elsewhere by: (1) the development and deployment of in-situ diagnostics to monitor deposit properties, including heat transfer coefficients, porosity, emissivity, tenacity, strength, density, and viscosity; (2) the time resolution of such properties during deposit growth; (3) simultaneous measurement of structural and composition properties; (4) development of algorithms from a self-consistent, simultaneously measured database that includes the interdependence of properties; and (5) application of the results to technologically relevant environments such as those being planned under Combustion 2000 program. Work completed during FY94 emphasized diagnostic development. During FY95, this development work will be completed and we will emphasize application of the diagnostics to meet the other project objectives. Included in this work are the development and application of two in-situ, real-time diagnostic systems for monitoring the properties of inorganic materials on Heat transfer surfaces and in the gas-phase during controlled combustion of selected coal samples in Sandia`s Multifuel Combustor (MFC). Also, several diagnostics are being incorporated into the MFC that will eventually be used to characterize ash deposit properties.

  2. Geogenic organic contaminants in the low-rank coal-bearing Carrizo-Wilcox aquifer of East Texas, USA

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chakraborty, Jayeeta; Varonka, Matthew S.; Orem, William H.; Finkelman, Robert B.; Manton, William

    2017-01-01

    The organic composition of groundwater along the Carrizo-Wilcox aquifer in East Texas (USA), sampled from rural wells in May and September 2015, was examined as part of a larger study of the potential health and environmental effects of organic compounds derived from low-rank coals. The quality of water from the low-rank coal-bearing Carrizo-Wilcox aquifer is a potential environmental concern and no detailed studies of the organic compounds in this aquifer have been published. Organic compounds identified in the water samples included: aliphatics and their fatty acid derivatives, phenols, biphenyls, N-, O-, and S-containing heterocyclic compounds, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), aromatic amines, and phthalates. Many of the identified organic compounds (aliphatics, phenols, heterocyclic compounds, PAHs) are geogenic and originated from groundwater leaching of young and unmetamorphosed low-rank coals. Estimated concentrations of individual compounds ranged from about 3.9 to 0.01 μg/L. In many rural areas in East Texas, coal strata provide aquifers for drinking water wells. Organic compounds observed in groundwater are likely to be present in drinking water supplied from wells that penetrate the coal. Some of the organic compounds identified in the water samples are potentially toxic to humans, but at the estimated levels in these samples, the compounds are unlikely to cause acute health problems. The human health effects of low-level chronic exposure to coal-derived organic compounds in drinking water in East Texas are currently unknown, and continuing studies will evaluate possible toxicity.

  3. Coal potential of Antartica

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rose, G.; McElroy, C.T.

    1987-01-01

    This report attempts to bring together available information on the coal deposits of Antarctica and discuss factors that would be involved if these deposits were to be explored and mined. Most of the reported principal coal deposits in Antarctica lie generally within the Transantarctic Mountains: the majority are of Permian age and are present in the Victoria Group of the Beacon Supergroup. Several other deposits have been recorded in East Antarctica and in the Antarctic Peninsula, including minor occurrences of Mesozoic and Tertiary coal and carbonaceous shale.

  4. Sequential simulation approach to modeling of multi-seam coal deposits with an application to the assessment of a Louisiana lignite

    Science.gov (United States)

    Olea, Ricardo A.; Luppens, James A.

    2012-01-01

    There are multiple ways to characterize uncertainty in the assessment of coal resources, but not all of them are equally satisfactory. Increasingly, the tendency is toward borrowing from the statistical tools developed in the last 50 years for the quantitative assessment of other mineral commodities. Here, we briefly review the most recent of such methods and formulate a procedure for the systematic assessment of multi-seam coal deposits taking into account several geological factors, such as fluctuations in thickness, erosion, oxidation, and bed boundaries. A lignite deposit explored in three stages is used for validating models based on comparing a first set of drill holes against data from infill and development drilling. Results were fully consistent with reality, providing a variety of maps, histograms, and scatterplots characterizing the deposit and associated uncertainty in the assessments. The geostatistical approach was particularly informative in providing a probability distribution modeling deposit wide uncertainty about total resources and a cumulative distribution of coal tonnage as a function of local uncertainty.

  5. Suspension-firing of wood with coal ash addition: Probe measurements of ash deposit build-up at Avedøre Power Plant (AVV2)

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Shafique Bashir, Muhammad; Jensen, Peter Arendt; Jappe Frandsen, Flemming

    This report is about full-scale probe measurements of deposit build-up and removal conducted at the Avedøreværket Unit 2, a 800 MWth suspension boiler, firing wood and natural gas with the addition of coal ash. Coal ash was used as an additive to capture potassium (K) from wood-firing. Investigat...... to the gas phase as HCl(g). Effect of boiler operational parameters on gas emissions has also been investigated.......This report is about full-scale probe measurements of deposit build-up and removal conducted at the Avedøreværket Unit 2, a 800 MWth suspension boiler, firing wood and natural gas with the addition of coal ash. Coal ash was used as an additive to capture potassium (K) from wood...... and boiler load on ash deposition propensity was investigated. Results of ash deposition propensity showed increasing trend with increasing flue gas temperature. Video monitoring revealed that the deposits formed were not sticky and could be easily removed, and even at very high flue gas temperatures (> 1350...

  6. Potential effects of surface coal mining on the hydrology of the Corral Creek area, Hanging Woman Creek coal field, southeastern Montana

    Science.gov (United States)

    McClymonds, N.E.

    1984-01-01

    The Corral Creek area of the Hanging Woman Creek coal field, 9 miles east of the Decker coal mines near the Tongue River, contains large reserves of Federal coal that have been identified for potential lease sale. A hydrologic study was conducted in the area to describe existing hydrologic systems and to study assess potential impacts of surface coal mining on local water resources. Hydrogeologic data collected indicate that aquifers are coal and sandstone beds within the Tongue River Member of the Fort Union Formation (Paleocene age) and sand and gravel in valley alluvium (Pleistocene and Holocene age). Surface-water resources are limited to a few spring-fed stock ponds in the higher parts of the area and the intermittent flow of Corral Creek near the mouth. Most of the stock ponds in the area become dry by midsummer. Mining of the Anderson coal bed would remove three stock wells and would lower the potentiometric surface within the coal and sandstone aquifers. The alluvial aquifer beneath Corral Creek and South Fork would be removed. Although mining would alter the existing hydrologic systems and remove several shallow wells, alternative ground-water supplies are available that could be developed to replace those lost by mining. (USGS)

  7. Extreme warmth and heat-stressed plankton in the tropics during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Frieling, Joost; Gebhardt, Holger; Huber, Matthew; Adekeye, Olabisi A; Akande, Samuel O; Reichart, Gert-Jan; Middelburg, Jack J; Schouten, Stefan; Sluijs, Appy

    2017-03-01

    Global ocean temperatures rapidly warmed by ~5°C during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM; ~56 million years ago). Extratropical sea surface temperatures (SSTs) met or exceeded modern subtropical values. With these warm extratropical temperatures, climate models predict tropical SSTs >35°C-near upper physiological temperature limits for many organisms. However, few data are available to test these projected extreme tropical temperatures or their potential lethality. We identify the PETM in a shallow marine sedimentary section deposited in Nigeria. On the basis of planktonic foraminiferal Mg/Ca and oxygen isotope ratios and the molecular proxy [Formula: see text], latest Paleocene equatorial SSTs were ~33°C, and [Formula: see text] indicates that SSTs rose to >36°C during the PETM. This confirms model predictions on the magnitude of polar amplification and refutes the tropical thermostat theory. We attribute a massive drop in dinoflagellate abundance and diversity at peak warmth to thermal stress, showing that the base of tropical food webs is vulnerable to rapid warming.

  8. Impact ejecta at the Paleocene-Eocene boundary.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schaller, Morgan F; Fung, Megan K; Wright, James D; Katz, Miriam E; Kent, Dennis V

    2016-10-14

    Extraterrestrial impacts have left a substantial imprint on the climate and evolutionary history of Earth. A rapid carbon cycle perturbation and global warming event about 56 million years ago at the Paleocene-Eocene (P-E) boundary (the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum) was accompanied by rapid expansions of mammals and terrestrial plants and extinctions of deep-sea benthic organisms. Here, we report the discovery of silicate glass spherules in a discrete stratigraphic layer from three marine P-E boundary sections on the Atlantic margin. Distinct characteristics identify the spherules as microtektites and microkrystites, indicating that an extraterrestrial impact occurred during the carbon isotope excursion at the P-E boundary. Copyright © 2016, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

  9. Dew point of combustion products of coal from the Berezovo deposit

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Petrov, V.A. (UralVTI (USSR))

    1990-11-01

    Evaluates properties of brown coal from the Berezovo deposit, Kansk-Achinsk basin, and properties of its combustion products. Coal properties are the following: sulfur content from 0.26 to 0.49%, ash content from 3.49 to 6.58%, moisture content from 31.6 to 36.9%, calorific value from 14,200 to 15,840 kJ/kg. Dew point of the combustion products amounts to 51 C and is equal to that of water vapor present in flue gases. Changing boiler output does not influence dew point. Increase in the excess air coefficient from 1.2 to 1.4 results in an increase in dew point by 2-3 K; further increase in air excess coefficient to 1.64 causes a decline in dew point by 3-4 K. 2 refs.

  10. Radium-bearing waters in the Upper Silesian Coal Basin

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tomza, I.; Lebecka, J.; Pluta, I.

    1986-01-01

    Natural waters with a high radium content occuring in underground workings of coal mines in Upper Silesia are described. Above 1500 water samples from carbonifereous aquifers were taken and the concentration of 226 Ra was measured. In about 100 samples also uranium was determined. The 226 Ra concentration varied in a wide range from 0.01 kBq/m 3 to 270 kBq/m 3 , while the uranium content was usually much lower than one could expect from the equilibrium between radium and uranium. It was observed that the 226 Ra concentration increases with mineralization of water, however the correlation was rather poor. Two types of radium-bearing waters were distinguished. Waters type A - containing Ba 2+ ions and waters type B - containing SO 4 2- ions. Waters type A are always reach in radium and usually have higher concentration of 226 Ra than waters type B. The described waters have one of the highest radium concentration which have been found so far in the natural environment. (author)

  11. Diagenesis of diatomite from the Kolubara Coal Basin, Barosevac, Serbia

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Obradovic, J; Hein, J R; Djurdjevic, J [University of Belgrade, Belgrade (Yugoslavia). Faculty of Mining and Geology

    1994-09-01

    Diatomite associated with the Kolubara Coal Basin was studied to better understand early stage silica diagenesis of shallow water deposits. The Kolubara Basin consists of Neogene siliciclastic rocks, diatomite, marlstone and rare carbonates. Palaeozoic metamorphic and Mesozoic sedimentary and igneous basement rocks are transgressively overlain by Upper Miocene sandstone, siltstone, shale and mudstone. This Upper Miocene section is transgressively overlain by the Pontian section, which contains diatomite and coal beds. White and grey diatomite form beds 0.7-2.2 m thick that are continuous over an area of about 2 km[sup 2]. Siliceous rocks vary in composition from diatomite (81-89% SiO[sub 2]) to diatom-bearing shale (58-60% SiO[sub 2]). Siliceous deposits are laminated in places, with the laminae defined by variations in clay minerals, organic matter and diatoms. Diatomite shows only incipient diagenesis characterized by the fragmentation of diatom frustules, the minor to moderate corrosion of frustules and the formation of minor amounts of opal-A (X-ray amorphous inorganic opal) cement. The low degree of diagenesis results from the young age of the deposits, low burial temperatures and possibly also from the presence of abundant organic matter and the dissolution of kaolinite. The presence of only weak diagenesis is also reflected by the characteristically poor consolidation of the rocks and low rank of the associated coal.

  12. Concentrations of lithium in Chinese coals

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sun, Yuzhuang; Li, Yanheng; Zhao, Cunliang; Lin, Mingyue; Wang, Jinxi; Qin, Shenjun [Hebei University of Engineering, Handan (China). Key Laboratory of Resource Exploration Research of Hebei Province

    2010-04-15

    Lithium is an important energy metal. Its concentrations in coals have been studied by many geologists. Its average content is only 14 mg/kg in the coals of the world. Lithium has never been reported as a coal associated deposit before. In order to study the concentrations in Chinese coals, 159 coal and gangue samples were taken from six coal mines and were determined by ICP-MS and the minerals in the samples were identified by X-ray powder diffraction. The results indicate that the Li contents in the coal samples from the Antaibao Coal Mine have reached the industry grade of coal associated deposits. In Tongxing Coal Mine, Li contents in the coal floor rock samples have reached the industry grade of independent lithium deposits. Main minerals are polylithionite, triphylite, zinnwaldite, lithionite and cookeite, which were transported into the peats. Therefore, lithium enriched is most likely in the synsedimentary stage in both coal mines. Furthermore, a revised average Li content in Chinese coals was given.

  13. Selective coal mining of intercalated lignite deposits

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zunic, R [Kolubara-Projekt, Lazarevac (Yugoslavia)

    1991-01-01

    Describes selective coal mining in the Tamnava-Istocno Polje coal surface coal mine (Yugoslavia), designed for an annual coal production of 11.4 Mt. Until 1991, this mine exploited one thick lignite seam, without spoil intercalations, using a bucket wheel excavator-conveyor-spreader system both for coal mining and removal of overburden. In the future, several spoil intercalations of up to 1.0 m and thicker will appear with a total volume of 22 million m{sup 3}. These intercalations have to be selectively excavated in order to guarantee the calorific value of coal for the Nikola Tesla power plant. Computer calculations were carried out to determine the decrease in excavator coal production due to selective mining of spoil strata. Calculations found that the annual surface mine capacity will be lower by at most 9%, depending on thickness of spoil intercalations. The useful operation time of excavators will be reduced by 98 hours per year. The planned annual coal production will nevertheless be fulfilled. 3 refs.

  14. Coal blending preparation for non-carbonized coal briquettes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Widodo; Fatimah, D.; Estiaty, L. M.

    2018-02-01

    Referring to the national energy policy targets for the years 2025, the government has launched the use of coal briquettes as an alternative energy replacement for kerosene and firewood. Non-carbonized briquettes in the form of coal briquettes as well as bio-coal briquettes are used in many small-medium industries and households, and are rarely used by large industries. The standard quality of coal briquettes used as raw material for non-carbonized briquettes is a minimum calorific value of 4,400 kcal/kg (adb); total sulfur at a maximum of 1% (adb), and water content at plants), the environment of deposition, and the geological conditions of the surrounding area, so that the coal deposits in each region will be different as well as the amount and also the quality. Therefore, the quantity and the quality of coal in each area are different to be eligible in the making of briquettes to do blending. In addition to the coal blending, it is also necessary to select the right materials in the making of coal briquettes and bio-coal briquettes. The formulation of the right mixture of material in the making of briquettes, can be produced of good quality and environmental friendly.

  15. Deposit Formation during Coal-Straw Co-Combustion in a Utility PF-Boiler

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Andersen, Karin Hedebo

    1998-01-01

    the combustion conditions, including the method of introduction of the straw to the boiler, as well as the amount of Fe introduced as Pyrite with the coal.No significant effect could be found in the deposition probe samples for an increase in probe metal temperature from 540°C to 620°C. The importance of deposit...... area. The evaluation was performed for an opposed-wall fired and tangentially fired boiler, which are compared to the wall-fired MKS1. Two major aspects were evaluated: The effect of flue gas temperatures and the effect of mixing. However, no final recommandation for choise of boilertype can be given...

  16. Ignition of Coal Dust from the Tomsk Region Talovsky Deposit by Air Flow

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chebochakova Diana A.

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper focuses on the experimental studies of the ignition characteristics of brown coal dust particles from the Tomsk region Talovsky deposit under the conditions of convective heating. The boundary conditions of combustion initiation have been established. The approximation dependence of ignition delay time from the temperature of a heat source has been found.

  17. A fluvioglacial and gaciolacustrine deltaic depositional model for Permo-Carboniferous coals of the northeastern Karoo Basin, South Africa

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Smith G, Le Blanc; Eriksson, K A

    1979-01-01

    With the northward retreat of the late Palaeozoic Gondwana ice sheet a series of glacial valleys, partially filled with diamictite, dominated the landscape along the northern edge of the Karoo basin in South Africa. Consequent outwash sediments accumulated as fluvioglacial and glaciolacustrine deltaic deposits. Density underflow generated turbidity currents from which bottomset sediments were deposited. These comprise distal varved siltstones and shales, stratified pebbly-mudstone with dropstones, and proximal ripple drift cross-laminated sandstones and siltstones. Overlying outwash plain conglomerates and sandstones constitute the topset deposits. Upon abandonment of the outwash plain, shallow-rooted Arctic vegetation developed. Resulting peats exceeded 10 m in thickness and constituted precursors to coal seams in which variations in ash content are attributed to overbank splaying from recognisable anastomosing channels within the coal swamps. This study has illustrated a characteristic paraglacial sedimentation sequence, maximum depositional rates occur immediately after glacial retreat followed by decelerating sedimentation rates through time, leading finally to the development of extensive peats. (29 refs.)

  18. Structure and corrosion properties of Cr coating deposited on aerospace bearing steel

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Fangfang; Zhang, Fengxiang; Zheng, Lijing; Zhang, Hu

    2017-11-01

    The corrosion protection of chromium coating deposited on aerospace bearing steels by using the Filtered Cathodic Vacuum Arc deposition- Metal Evaporation Vacuum Arc duplex technique (MEVVA-FCVA) had been investigated. The protection efficiency of chromium coating on different substrate materials had also been evaluated. The chromium coating was mainly composed of nanocrystallineα-Cr in a range of 50-200 nm. The orientation distributions of α-Cr film on substrates with different composition had a certain difference to each other. Electrochemical experimental results indicated that the chromium coating significantly improved the corrosion resistance of experimental bearing steels in 3.5% NaCl solution. The protective efficiency of chromium films were all over 98%. The corrosion resistance of chromium coating was influenced by the chemical composition of substrate material. The chromium coatings on higher Cr-containing substrate displayed lower corrosion current density and more positive corrosion potential. The increase of passive film thickness and the formation of a mass of chromium oxide and hydroxide on the surface are responsible for the improved corrosion properties.

  19. Features structure of iron-bearing strata’s of the Bakchar deposit, Western Siberia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Asochakova, E. M.

    2017-12-01

    The ore-bearing strata’s of Bakchar deposit have complicated structural-textural heterogeneity and variable mineral composition. This deposit is one of the most promising areas of localization of sedimentary iron ore. The ore-bearing strata’s are composed mainly of sandstones (sometimes with ferruginous pebbles, less often conglomerates), siltstones and clays. The ironstones are classified according to their lithology and geochemistry into three types: goethite-hydrogoethitic oolitic, glauconite-chloritic and transitional (intermediate) type iron ores. The mineral composition includes many different minerals: terrigenous, authigenic and clayey. Ironstones are characterized by elevated concentrations of many rare and valuable metals present in them as trace elements, additionally alloying (Mn, V, Cr, Ti, Zr, Mo, etc.) and harmful impurities (S, As, Cu, Pb, Zn, P). There are prerequisites for the influence of numerous factors, such as prolonged transgression of the sea, swamping of paleo-river deltas, the appearance of a tectonic fracture zone associated with active bottom tectonics and unloading of catagenetic waters, regression and natural ore enrichment due to the re-washing of slightly-iron rocks. These factors are reflected in the structure of the ore-bearing strata in which rhythmic cycles of ore sedimentation with successive changes in them are distinguished by an association of different mineral composition.

  20. System of the creation of a model for the coal deposit, and the subsequent

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Staněk František

    1996-09-01

    Full Text Available In the paper, methodics of creating a model for different type of the coal deposit is described, including the processing of reserves text and graphic outputs. It is also useful in cases of the deposit with a great number of seams of various thicknesses that is heavily tectonically disturbed and divided into tectonic blocks. The development of seams is variable in both the thickness and quality. Splitting of the seams occurs, separate benches are formed and, on the contrary, connected into one seam.

  1. Clear as Mud: Changes in Paleoshelf Environments and Deposition Rates at Medford, New Jersey during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum

    Science.gov (United States)

    Podrecca, L.; Miller, K. G.; Wright, J. D.; Browning, J. V.; Emge, T.

    2017-12-01

    The Paleocene-Eocene boundary marks a time of swift global climatic change. Constraining the timeframe of this event is a first order question necessary for ascertaining the origin of the event and the potential for its use as an analog for modern climate change. The New Jersey shelf sediments of the Marlboro Formation records this time period with exceptionally thick (5-15m) records of the period of global low carbon isotopic values ("the core") which requires minimum sedimentation rates of 10's cm/kyr. Rhythmic layers have been previously reported from Wilson Lake & Millville, NJ (IODP Leg 174AX). These structures coined "laminae couplets" consist of semi-periodic 1-2mm thick raised laminations separated by matrix of varying width (averaging 1.8cm). These have been dismissed as artifacts of drilling "biscuits". We report here on a series of shallow auger cores drilled on a transect at Medford, NJ, without using drilling fluid. These cores also show a similar set of structures on the 2cm scale verifying that they are primary depositional features. The mm width laminae in the auger core show remarkable swelling within minutes of splitting. XRD, XRF, bulk carbonate geochemistry, and grain size analysis have been determined at regular depth intervals throughout the core. We have analyzed differences in these parameters between the laminae and interbedded matrix material, as well as across the transect as a whole. In general, the Marlboro formation at this updip location consists of micaceous, lignitic, very clayey silt (mean size 6 micrometers) with occasional organic debris indicating proximal deposition from a fluvial system. Paleodepth of 40m and normal marine salinities are estimated using a paleoslope model and the presence of common though not abundant planktonic foraminifera. We discuss a model of deposition for the Marlboro Formation as fluid mud (nearbed suspension flows) associated with the "Appalachian Amazon" alluding toward the finer grained inter

  2. The geochronology of uranium deposits in the Great Bear batholith, Northwest Territories

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Miller, R.G.

    1982-01-01

    The oldest uranium mineralisation found in the Great Bear batholith during this study may be hydrothermal pitchblende-hematite veins at Hottah Lake. Their apparent age of 2058 +- 34 Ma can also be explained by the contamination of deposits only 440 +- 57 Ma old, which is the age of pitchblende veins nearby. Numerous pendants of metamorphosed, uraninite-bearing 'black sand' placers in a north-trending belt west of the Wopmay Fault are 1860 +- 20 Ma old, the age of the granites that intrude them. Mineralisation at Echo Bay is from 1500 +- 10 to 1424 +- 29 Ma old, and extends up to 30 km north and 40 km south of Echo Bay. The JD claims contain small quartz vein deposits dated at 535 +- 164 and 1092 +- 115 Ma. At Mountain Lake, pitchblende in Helikian sandstones overlying the batholith is 1076 +- 96 Ma old. Polymetallic veinlets at Mazenod Lake are 457 +- 26 Ma old. Pitchblende in a giant quartz vein at the Rayrock mine is 511 +- 86 Ma old. Small pitchblende veins east of the batholith along the Coppermine River are between 400 and 660 Ma old. All the deposits are either between approximately 395 and 660 Ma old, or indicate remobilization during this interval. These events may be related to a marine transgression and regression approximately 600 and 350 Ma ago, respectively

  3. Coal marketability: Effects of deregulation and regulation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Attanasi, E.

    2000-01-01

    Electrical utility deregulation will force power plants to compete for sales because they will not longer have captive markets. Market uncertainty and uncertainty about future environmental regulations have encouraged power plants to shift to low sulfur coal and/or to use emissions allowances to comply with Phase 2 of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments. Mines in Northern and Central Appalachia and the Illinois Basin shipped 240 million tons of non-compliance coal to power plants without scrubbers in 1997. Under Phase 2, this coal will be replaced by low sulfur coal and/or be used with emission permits. It is possible that Powder River Basin coal production will have to increase by over 200 million tons/year to meet new demand. The prices of emissions permits will impose penalties on non-compliance coal that will probably drive out marginal coal producers. For example, if the cost of an emission permit is $200, coal from the Pittsburgh bed could bear a sulfur penalty of $6.55 per ton and similarly, coal from the Herrinbed could bear a penalty of $8.64 per ton

  4. Comparing maceral ratios from tropical peatlands with assumptions from coal studies. Do classic coal petrographic interpretation methods have to be discarded?

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wuest, Raphael A.J.; Hawke, Michelle I.; Marc Bustin, R. [Department of Earth and Ocean Sciences, Tropical Peat Research Group, University of British Columbia, 6339 Stores Road, V6T 1Z4 Vancouver, B.C. (Canada)

    2001-12-01

    Petrographic investigations of tropical peat deposits from the Tasek Bera Basin, Malaysia, show that petrographic methods can contribute valuable information about paleoecological settings of mire deposits. Comparing modern peat-forming environments and the pre-maceral composition of peat samples allows the reconstruction of paleoecological conditions, such as floral composition, fires, microbial activity, etc., and gives insight into paleodepositional environments. In the past, maceral ratios of coals have been used to interpret paleodepositional settings of coal deposits. Such a procedure assumes that coal texture and coal maceral composition are dictated solely by the depositional environment, and thus different depositional environments should be clearly discriminated based on maceral ratios. In the modern peat deposits of Tasek Bera, divergent petrographic results occur in similar depositional environments, hence, poor correlation occurs between the petrography, the degree of decomposition, and the depositional environment. Furthermore, from the time of peat deposition, peat is subject to considerable alteration. During subsequent diagenesis, preservation of structured and strongly altered material, such as inertinite, gelified material or funginite, is favoured and results in biased coal maceral compositions. Because maceral indexes in modern peat studies are of little utility in the reconstruction of paleoenvironmental settings, it follows that coal maceral indexes should not be utilized in the future to interpret paleodepositional environments of coals.

  5. Evidence of cyclic climatic changes recorded in clay mineral assemblages from a continental Paleocene-Eocene sequence, northwestern Argentina

    Science.gov (United States)

    Do Campo, Margarita; Bauluz, Blanca; del Papa, Cecilia; White, Timothy; Yuste, Alfonso; Mayayo, Maria Jose

    2018-06-01

    The continental Paleocene-Eocene sequence investigated in this study belongs to the Salta Group, deposited in an intracontinental rift, the Salta Basin (NW Argentina), that evolved from the lower Cretaceous to the middle Paleogene, and is subdivided into the Pirgua, the Balbuena and the Santa Barbara Subgroups. The Maíz Gordo Formation (200 m thick) is the middle unit of the Santa Bárbara Subgroup, deposited during late post-rift sedimentation. We studied the mineralogy of fine-grained horizons of this formation by X-ray diffraction and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) in order to examine the connection between vertical changes in clay mineralogy in alluvial sediments and paleosols, and global paleoclimatic changes registered during the Paleogene. Paleosols vary from calcic vertisols in the lowermost levels, to inseptisols and gleysols in intermediate positions, to gleyed oxisols in the upper section, indicating increased chemical weathering through time. Clay mineral relative abundances vary with a general increase in kaolinite content from bottom to top. However, at one site there are significant variations in kaolinite/muscovite (Kln/Ms) that define five cycles of kaolinite abundance and Kln/Ms. that indicate cyclic patterns of paleoprecipitation and paleotemperature. These are interpreted as several short-lived hyperthermals during the Paleocene-early Eocene in the Southern Hemisphere, which correlate with well-established episodes of warmth documented from the Northern Hemisphere.

  6. Leaching of radium from mine deposits - application for planning of ground reclamation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chalupnik, S.

    2002-01-01

    Saline waters occurring in underground coal mines in Poland often contain natural radioactive isotopes, mainly 226 Ra from uranium series and 228 Ra from thorium series. Approximately 40% of total amount of radium remains underground in a form of radioactive deposits, but 225 MBq of 226 Ra and 400 MBq of 228 Ra are released daily into the rivers with mine effluents through surface settling ponds. Very peculiar situation is observed in coal mines, where as a result of precipitation of radium from radium-bearing waters radioactive deposits are formed. Sometimes natural radioactivity of such materials is very high, in case of scaling from coal mines radium concentration may reach 400000 Bq/kg - similar activity as for 3% uranium ore. Usually such deposits can be found underground, but sometimes co-precipitation of radium and barium takes place on the surface, in settling pond and in rivers. Therefore maintenance of solid and liquid waste with technologically enhanced natural radioactivity (TENORM) is a very important subject. Lately another problem appeared - due to the decrease of the production in Poland coal industry and dismantling of several coal mines, also the ground reclamation should be done in their vicinity. But in several cases deposits in the ponds contain enhanced levels of radium concentration. Therefore laboratory tests were done to investigate a possibility of the re-entry of radium into ground water or river waters from such deposits. Results show, that in the case of insoluble barium and radium sulphates co-precipitated out from waters type A, re-entry ratio is very small. Different situation can be observed in case of radium, adsorbed on bottom of sediments from waters type B, because re-entry ratio is much higher. Nevertheless, this phenomenon seems to be not so important and significant for the further pollution of the adjacent areas of the settling ponds in the future. (author)

  7. Deposition Uniformity of Coal Dust on Filters and Its Effect on the Accuracy of FTIR Analyses for Silica.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miller, Arthur L; Drake, Pamela L; Murphy, Nathaniel C; Cauda, Emanuele G; LeBouf, Ryan F; Markevicius, Gediminas

    Miners are exposed to silica-bearing dust which can lead to silicosis, a potentially fatal lung disease. Currently, airborne silica is measured by collecting filter samples and sending them to a laboratory for analysis. Since this may take weeks, a field method is needed to inform decisions aimed at reducing exposures. This study investigates a field-portable Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) method for end-of-shift (EOS) measurement of silica on filter samples. Since the method entails localized analyses, spatial uniformity of dust deposition can affect accuracy and repeatability. The study, therefore, assesses the influence of radial deposition uniformity on the accuracy of the method. Using laboratory-generated Minusil and coal dusts and three different types of sampling systems, multiple sets of filter samples were prepared. All samples were collected in pairs to create parallel sets for training and validation. Silica was measured by FTIR at nine locations across the face of each filter and the data analyzed using a multiple regression analysis technique that compared various models for predicting silica mass on the filters using different numbers of "analysis shots." It was shown that deposition uniformity is independent of particle type (kaolin vs. silica), which suggests the role of aerodynamic separation is negligible. Results also reflected the correlation between the location and number of shots versus the predictive accuracy of the models. The coefficient of variation (CV) for the models when predicting mass of validation samples was 4%-51% depending on the number of points analyzed and the type of sampler used, which affected the uniformity of radial deposition on the filters. It was shown that using a single shot at the center of the filter yielded predictivity adequate for a field method, (93% return, CV approximately 15%) for samples collected with 3-piece cassettes.

  8. Cenozoic tectono-thermal history of the Tordrillo Mountains, Alaska: Paleocene-Eocene ridge subduction, decreasing relief, and late Neogene faulting

    Science.gov (United States)

    Benowitz, Jeff A.; Haeussler, Peter J.; Layer, Paul W.; O'Sullivan, Paul B.; Wallace, Wes K.; Gillis, Robert J.

    2012-01-01

    Topographic development inboard of the continental margin is a predicted response to ridge subduction. New thermochronology results from the western Alaska Range document ridge subduction related orogenesis. K-feldspar thermochronology (KFAT) of bedrock samples from the Tordrillo Mountains in the western Alaska Range complement existing U-Pb, 40Ar/39Ar and AFT (apatite fission track) data to provide constraints on Paleocene pluton emplacement, and cooling as well as Late Eocene to Miocene vertical movements and exhumation along fault-bounded blocks. Based on the KFAT analysis we infer rapid exhumation-related cooling during the Eocene in the Tordrillo Mountains. Our KFAT cooling ages are coeval with deposition of clastic sediments in the Cook Inlet, Matanuska Valley and Tanana basins, which reflect high-energy depositional environments. The Tordrillo Mountains KFAT cooling ages are also the same as cooling ages in the Iliamna Lake region, the Kichatna Mountains of the western Alaska Range, and Mt. Logan in the Wrangell-St. Elias Mountains, thus rapid cooling at this time encompasses a broad region inboard of, and parallel to, the continental margin extending for several hundred kilometers. We infer these cooling events and deposition of clastic rocks are related to thermal effects that track the eastward passage of a slab window in Paleocene-Eocene time related to the subduction of the proposed Resurrection-Kula spreading ridge. In addition, we conclude that the reconstructed KFATmax negative age-elevation relationship is likely related to a long period of decreasing relief in the Tordrillo Mountains.

  9. Effect of water side deposits on the energy performance of coal fired thermal power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bhatt, M. Siddhartha

    2006-01-01

    This paper presents the effects of water side deposits in the 210 MW coal fired thermal power plant components (viz., boiler, turbine, feed water heaters, condensers and lube oil coolers) on the energy efficiency of these components and that of the overall system at 100% maximum continuous rating (MCR). The origin, composition and rate of build up of deposits on the water side are presented. A linear growth rate of deposits is assumed for simplicity. The effects of the reduction in heat transfer, increased pressure drop and increased pumping power/reduced power output in the components are quantified in the form of curve fits as functions of the deposit thickness (μm). The reduction in heat transfer in the boiler components is in the range of 0.2-2.0% under normal scaling. The increased pumping power is of the order of 0.6-7.6% in the boiler components, 29% in the BFP circuit, 26% in the LPH circuit, 21% in the HPH circuit and 18% in the lube oil cooler circuits. The effects on the overall coal fired plant is quantified through functional relations between the efficiencies and the notional deposit thickness. The sensitivity indices to the notional deposit thickness are: boiler efficiency: -0.0021% points/μm, turbine circuit efficiency: -0.0037% points/μm, auxiliary power efficiency: -0.00129% points/μm, gross overall efficiency: -0.0039% points/μm and net overall efficiency: -0.0040% points/μm. The overall effect of scale build up is either increased power input of ∼68 kW/μm (at a constant power output) or decreased power output ∼25 kW/μm (at a constant power input). Successful contaminant control techniques are highlighted. Capacity reduction effects due to water side deposits are negligible

  10. German planning atlas. Vol. 1: North Rhine Westphalia. No. 11. Brown coal 2 - ownership of brown coal deposits, resettlement, surface balance, coal, rock, and energy economy, future developments. Deutscher Planungsatlas. Bd. 1: Nordrhein-Westfalen. Nr. 11. Braunkohle 2 - Feldesbesitz, Umsiedlung, Grundwasser, Flaechenbilanz, Kohle-, Abraum- und Energiewirtschaft, kuenftige Entwicklung

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1977-01-01

    In map No. III of the atlas on the develpment of Rhenish coal mining, the ownership in brown coal deposits and planning, resettlement, ground water and an area balance are presented. Map No. IV discusses coal economy, rock economy, energy economy, structure and development. Details are described in the text.

  11. Biopetrology of coals from Krishnavaram area, Chintalapudi sub-basin, Godavari valley coalfields, Andhra Pradesh

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sarate, O.S. [Birbal Sahni Institute of Palaeobotany, Lucknow (India)

    2001-07-01

    Critical analysis of the constitution and rank of the sub-surface coal deposits from Krishnavaram area in the Chintalapudi sub-basin of Godavari valley coalfield is presented. Three coal/shale zones viz. A, B and C (in the ascending order) are encountered from Barakar Formation and lower Kamthi Member of the Lower Gondwana sequence. Zone C mostly contains shaly beds interbedded with thin coal bands (mostly shaly coal), and as such has no economic significance. Zone B is dominated by the vitric and mixed type of coal which has attained high volatile bituminous B and C ranks. The lowermost Zone A is characterised by mixed and fusic coal types with high volatile bituminous C rank. Both the zones A and B contain good quality coal and bear high economic potential. Cold and humid climate with alternating dry and oxidising spells have been interpreted from the constitution of coal. Moreover, the accumulation of thick pile of sediments rich in organic matter is attributed to the sinking of the basin floor due to the activation of faults. Later tectonic events either caused extinction or drastically reduced the number of the floral elements and formed thick shaly horizons interrupting the continuity of the coal facies.

  12. Foraminiferal and carbon isotope stratigraphy through the Paleocene-Eocene transition at Dee Stream, Marlborough, New Zealand

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hancock, H.J.L.; Dickens, G.R.; Strong, C.P.; Hollis, C.J.; Field, B.D.

    2003-01-01

    Dee Stream in the Clarence River valley of New Zealand bisects a well-exposed section of marine sedimentary rocks deposited in the Early Paleogene at high southern latitudes. One hundred metres of strata lying within this section and comprising cm-dm well-bedded, siliceous limestone with marly partings was mapped, logged, and sampled to establish a detailed foraminiferal and carbon isotope stratigraphy and to examine environmental changes across the Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum (PETM). Although low abundance and poor preservation of planktic and benthic foraminifera characterises much of the Paleocene, foraminifera and carbon isotopes clearly show that the section spans the Upper Paleocene to Lower Eocene planktic foraminiferal zones from Zone P4 to Subzone P6b, and the Subbotina triloculinoides to Pseudohastigerina wilcoxensis Zones. The δ 13 C record correlates closely to other δ 13 C curves generated from other key Early Paleogene carbonate sequences. The Dee Stream logged section contains a 1 m thick PETM interval at 26.5 m at the base of Zone P5, or the Morozovella velascoensis Subzone. Here, benthic foraminifera undergo significant extinction, Morozovella aequa makes its first appearance, and the δ 13 C of carbonate decreases by 2 permille. The benthic foraminifer Bulimina tuxpamensis dominates benthic assemblages immediately following the onset of the PETM interval, suggesting dysoxic bottom waters during this event. In conjunction with other recently examined sections from the Marlborough region, the thick and apparently continuous Paleogene record at Dee Stream provides an important site for understanding environmental change on high-latitude continental margins during the Paleogene, including the PETM. (author). 54 refs., 10 figs., 2 tabs

  13. EPR- study of paramagnetic features of brown coal from Kiyakty coal deposit after mechanic activation and electron irradiation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ryabikin, Yu.A.; Zashkvara, O.V.; Popov, S.N.; Kairbekov, Zh.K.; Ershova, Zh.R.; Kupchishin, A.I.; Kovtunets, V.A.

    2003-01-01

    Full text: It is known that prospected coal resources exceed, at least by order of magnitude, petroleum reserves decreasing steeply at last time as a result of world oil consumption rise. In this connection the manufacture of different liquid products from coal, especially brown coal, is issue of the day. Liquid fuel yield depends on physical-chemical characteristics and their changes owing to preliminary chemical, mechanical and radiation treatment. In this paper some results of paramagnetic characteristic study of Kiyakty deposit coal as initial one as after its mechanical treatment and electron irradiation are presented. It is discovered that in Kiyakty coal there are, at least, two fractions differed in EPR line width and concentration of free radical states they contained. First fraction has EPR line width ΔH 1 =4-5 Oe and mean free radical states concentration N 1 = 2.4·10 17 sp/g. For samples of second fraction the EPR line width ΔH 2 = 6.6-7.2 Oe and N 2 = 1.8·10 18 sp/g are typical. Thus, in the second fraction the EPR line width and free radical states concentration are greater than in the first case. Besides free radical states in coal EPR signals were found from trivalent iron ions with g-factor approximated 2 and with g=4.3. It the signals with g=4.3, are practically identical for both fractions, their concentrations are neighbour and line width is ΔH 1 = 250 Oe, then for the lines near g=2.0 situation is markedly different. For the first fraction ΔH 1 = 800 Oe whereas for the second case two signals in this g-factor range are observed. The first signal has line width ΔH 1 = 550 Oe and g=l .97, the second is more wide with ΔH 1 = 1000 Oe and g=2.02. We cannot discover significant dependence of free radical states concentration on mechanic activation time. Obviously, life times of complementary free radical states generated in process of coal activation are very low. As Fe 3+ ions, for both fractions it is observed intensity growth of their

  14. Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials in Uranium-Rich Coals and Associated Coal Combustion Residues from China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lauer, Nancy; Vengosh, Avner; Dai, Shifeng

    2017-11-21

    Most coals in China have uranium concentrations up to 3 ppm, yet several coal deposits are known to be enriched in uranium. Naturally occurring radioactive materials (NORM) in these U-rich coals and associated coal combustion residues (CCRs) have not been well characterized. Here we measure NORM (Th, U, 228 Ra, 226 Ra, and 210 Pb) in coals from eight U-rich coal deposits in China and the associated CCRs from one of these deposits. We compared NORM in these U-rich coals and associated CCRs to CCRs collected from the Beijing area and natural loess sediments from northeastern China. We found elevated U concentrations (up to 476 ppm) that correspond to low 232 Th/ 238 U and 228 Ra/ 226 Ra activity ratios (≪1) in the coal samples. 226 Ra and 228 Ra activities correlate with 238 U and 232 Th activities, respectively, and 226 Ra activities correlate well with 210 Pb activities across all coal samples. We used measured NORM activities and ash yields in coals to model the activities of CCRs from all U-rich coals analyzed in this study. The activities of measured and modeled CCRs derived from U-rich coals exceed the standards for radiation in building materials, particularly for CCRs originating from coals with U > 10 ppm. Since beneficial use of high-U Chinese CCRs in building materials is not a suitable option, careful consideration needs to be taken to limit potential air and water contamination upon disposal of U- and Ra-rich CCRs.

  15. Conditions of uranium-bearing calcite formation in ore-enclosing sediments of the Semizbaj deposit (Kazakhstan)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kondrat'eva, I.A.; Maksimova, I.G.; Dojnikova, O.I.

    1995-01-01

    Consideration is given to results of investigation into uranium-bearing calcite, forming the cement of gravelly-sandy rocks of the Semizbaj uranium deposit. Core sampling in prospecting boreholes were used to establish geological conditions, place and time of uranium-bearing calcite formation. Calcite was investigated by optical, electron-microscope and radiographic methods. It is shown that uranium in calcite doesn't form its own mineral phase and exists in scattered state. Uranium in calcite-bearing minerals is present in isomorphic form. Uranium content in calcite was equal to 0.009-0.15 %. It is proposed that mineralization, formed in sedimentary rocks by processes of ground-stratum oxidation, is the source of uranium, enriching calcite. refs., 5 figs., 2 tabs

  16. Coal in sub-Saharan-African countries undergoing desertification

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Weaver, J.N.; Brownfield, M.E.; Bergin, M.J. (United States Geological Survey, Denver, CO (USA))

    1990-01-01

    Coal has been reported in 11 of the 16 sub-Saharan countries discussed in this appraisal: Mauritania, Senegal, Mali, Niger, Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Sudan, Ethiopia, and Somalia. No coal occurrences have been reported in Gambia, Togo, Burkina, Chad, and Djibouti but coal may be present within these countries because neighbouring countries do contain coal-bearing rocks. Most of these countries are undergoing desertification. Destruction of forest and shrub lands for fuel is occurring at an increasing rate because of desertification and increasing energy demands. Part of the present and future energy needs of the sub-Saharan region could be met by use of indigenous coal and peat. Nine sedimentary basins have the potential of either coal and/or peat deposits of economic value: 1- Senegal Basin, 2- Taoudeni Basin and Gao Trough, 3- Niger Basin, 4- Chad Basin. 5- Chari Basin, 6- Benue Trough (Depression), 7- Sudan Trough, 8- Plateau and Rift Belt, and 9- Somali Basin. Niger and Nigeria are the only countries in sub-Saharan Africa in which coal is presently being mined as a fuel source for powerplants and domestic use. Peat occurs in the deltas, lower river, and interdunal basin areas of Senegal, Mauritania, and Sudan. The overall objective of these studies is to establish, within the sub-Saharan region, energy independent countries using indigeneous coal and peat resources. These resources have the potential to replace wood and wood charcoal as domestic fuel in the urban centres, as well as producing electrical and industrial energy, thus reducing expensive oil imports and decreasing the rate of deforestation. 31 refs., 16 figs., 1 tab.

  17. K-Ar age for alunite-bearing rock from the Iwato gold deposit, Kagoshima Prefecture, southern Japan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Togashi, Yukio; Shibata, Ken

    1984-01-01

    K-Ar age determination was made on a whole rock sample of the alunite-bearing silicified rock from the Iwato gold deposit, Kagoshima Prefecture, southern Japan. The sample is from one of the Nansatsu-type gold deposits, whose mineralization is characterized by the occurrence of leaching-type massive silicified rocks with gold dissemination. The result, 4.15 +- 0.78 Ma, is interpreted to be the age of the mineralization at the Iwato gold deposit. It also suggests that the Nansatsu-type deposits were formed in close association with andesitic volcanism in the early Pliocene age. (author)

  18. Hydrodynamic characterization of the Paleocene aquifer in the ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    user

    2009-05-15

    May 15, 2009 ... African Journal of Environmental Science and Technology Vol. 3 (5), pp. 141-148 ..... hydrogeological study of the coastal sedimentary basin of. Togo intended to ... isotopic study and modeling of the Paleocene aquifer in the.

  19. Structural analysis of the Tabaco anticline, Cerrejón open-cast coal mine, Colombia, South America

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cardozo, Néstor; Montes, Camilo; Marín, Dora; Gutierrez, Iván; Palencia, Alejandro

    2016-06-01

    The Tabaco anticline is a 15 km long, south plunging, east-vergent anticline in northern Colombia, close to the transpressional collisional margin between the Caribbean and South American plates. In the Cerrejón open-cast coal mine, systematic mapping of coal seams in the middle to upper Paleocene Cerrejón Formation has yielded an exceptional dataset consisting of 10 horizontal slices (sea level to 90 m elevation, regularly spaced at 10 m intervals) through the anticline. Coal seams and fault traces in these slices are used to construct a 3D model of the anticline. This 3D model shows tighter folds within lower coal seams, NW-vergent thrusts and related folds on the gentler western limb, and strike-slip faults on the steeper eastern limb. Fault slip-tendency analysis is used to infer that these two faulting styles resulted from two different stress fields: an earlier one consistent with thrusting and uplift of the Perijá range, and a later one consistent with strike-slip faulting (Oca, Ranchería and Samán faults). Our preferred interpretation is that the anticline developed its eastern vergence during the early stages (late Paleocene-early Eocene) of tilting of the Santa Marta massif. Later NW-vergent thrusting on the western limb (early to middle Eocene) was related to western propagation of the Perijá thrust system. These results contribute to the understanding of the structural evolution of the area. They are also a good example of the complex interplay between detachment folding, thrusting, and strike-slip faulting during the growth of a km-size fold in a transpressive setting.

  20. Testing causes for the European mid-Paleocene inversions

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nielsen, S.B.; Stephenson, Randell; Hansen, D.L.

    2006-01-01

    For a period of approx. 20 Myr during the Late Cretaceous, the Paleozoic and Mesozoic rifts and basins on the European continent experienced compressional shortening and inversion. On the order of ~103m of erosion occurred along the inversion axes; the convergence of Africa and Europe has...... conventionally been held responsible. A second stage of inversion of the same structures occurred in the mid-Paleocene; however, this differed in structural style by being domal and non-ruptural with amplitudes on the order of ~102m. Furthermore, within the chronostratigraphic resolution, the onset of the mid......-Paleocene phase occurred synchronously at ~60 Ma. The different styles of inversion call for different explanations and, recently, the second phase of inversion has been explained by a relaxation or rotation (rather than further compression) of the in-plane stress field of the first Late Cretaceous phase...

  1. Automated mineralogical logging of coal and coal measure core

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Stephen Fraser; Joan Esterle; Colin Ward; Ruth Henwood; Peter Mason; Jon Huntington; Phil Connor; Reneta Sliwa; Dave Coward; Lew Whitbourn [CSIRO Exploration & Mining (Australia)

    2006-06-15

    A mineralogical core logging system based on spectral reflectance (HyLogger{trademark}) has been used to detect and quantify mineralogies in coal and coal measure sediments. The HyLogger{trademark} system, as tested, operates in the visible-to-shortwave infrared spectral region, where iron oxides, sulphates, hydroxyl-bearing and carbonate minerals have characteristic spectral responses. Specialized software assists with mineral identification and data display. Three Phases of activity were undertaken. In Phase I, carbonates (siderite, ankerite, calcite) and clays (halloysite, dickite) were successfully detected and mapped in coal. Repeat measurements taken from one of the cores after three months demonstrated the reproducibility of the spectral approach, with some spectral differences being attributed to variations in moisture content and oxidation. Also, investigated was HyLogger{trademark} ability to create a 'brightness-profile' on coal materials, and these results were encouraging. In Phase II, geotechnically significant smectitic clays (montmorillonite) were detected and mapped in cores of clastic roof and floor materials. Such knowledge would be useful for mine planning and design purposes. In Phase III, our attempts at determining whether phosphorus-bearing minerals such as apatite could be spectrally detected were less than conclusive. A spectral index could only be created for apatite, and the relationships between the spectrally-derived apatite-index, the XRD results and the analytically-derived phosphorus measurements were ambiguous.

  2. Geodynamic methods for assessing methane distribution in bituminous coal deposits and measures to intensify methane fluxes during mine gas drainage

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Е. В. Гончаров

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available This paper explores states of methane within the coal bearing stratum and shows heavy dependency of the intrastratal gas migration on the forms of porous space and petrographic properties of coal. The adsorbed methane is found to be predominant in the coal of Kuznetsk Basin. Different forms of coal diffusion and filtration are described revealing their dependency on geological and thermodynamic conditions. The paper provides justification for the primary focus on geodynamic processes when designing gas drainage systems and applicability of morphometric methods and remote sensing data for their identification. The significance of researches into the processes activating exothermic reactions resulting in methane transition to free state is explained. The paper presents the results of using seismic-acoustic stimulation techniques as one of the practical approaches to addressing this issue. Results of successful industrial testing have been compared with the results of numerical modelling of stress-strain state, which can also be managed through seismic-acoustic stimulation.

  3. Geology and coal potential of Somaliland

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    M.Y. Ali [Petroleum Institute, Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates)

    2009-07-01

    Geological field mapping along with available geological and drilling data suggest that Somaliland (Northwestern Somalia) has favourable stratigraphy and structure for coal deposits. Lignitic to sub-bituminous coal deposits with ages from Jurassic to Oligocene-Miocene occur in various locations across the country including Hed-Hed valley south of Onkhor, Guveneh hills north of Las Dureh and Daban Basin southeast of Berbera. However, the coal occurrence at Hed-Hed has both the greatest thickness and highest quality. These deposits have the potential to provide an important alternative fuel resource which could alleviate the growing shortage of traditional fuels and assist in reducing the country's dependence on imported energy. However, further investigation, including drilling and laboratory analyses, still needs to be carried out, particularly on the Upper Cretaceous coal seams to evaluate the quality and resource potential of the deposits.

  4. Response to critique by lucas et al. (2009) of paper by Fassett (2009) documenting Paleocene dinosaurs in the San Juan Basin

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fassett, J.E.

    2009-01-01

    In this issue of Palaeontologia Electronica Lucas, et al. (2009) question the validity f the Fassett (2009) paper that presented evidence for Paleocene dinosaurs in the San Juan Basin of New Mexico and Colorado. Their challenges focus primarily on the lithostratigraphy, palynology, and paleomagnetism of the dinosaur-bearing Ojo Alamo Sandstone, shown by Fassett to be of Paleocene age. The lithostratigraphy of the Ojo Alamo is addressed by Lucas et al. (2009) based on detailed studies of outcrops of this formation in two relatively small areas in the southern San Juan Basin where Ojo Alamo dinosaur fossils have been found. When viewed over its 13,000 km2 extent, the Ojo Alamo is seen to be a much more complex formation than these authors recognize, thus their perception and description of the lithostratigraphy of this rock unit is limited and provincial. Fassett (2009) presented a detailed discussion of the palynology of the rocks adjacent to the Cretaceous-Tertiary (K-T) interface in the San Juan Basin, including a 67-page appendix and 25 tables listing the 244 palynomorph species identified from these strata. The Ojo Alamo Sandstone produced 103 palynomorphs from five principal localities including one especially prolific sample set from drill core through K-T strata. Without exception, all samples collected from the Ojo Alamo Sandstone for palynologic analysis were found to contain Paleocene palynomorph assemblages. Lucas et al. challenge only one Ojo Alamo palynomorph assemblage from one of the five areas studied, stating that they were unable to find palynomorph-productive samples at that locality. They submit no new palynologic data that refutes the Paleocene palynologic age of the Ojo Alamo Sandstone. In addressing the paleomagnetism of the Ojo Alamo, these authors dismiss the presence of a critical normal-polarity magnetochron discovered in the lower part of the Ojo Alamo - magnetochron C29n.2n of Fassett (2009) with no evidence to justify this dismissal

  5. The comparative analysis of heat transfer efficiency in the conditions of formation of ash deposits in the boiler furnaces, with taking into account the crystallization of slag during combustion of coal and water-coal fuel

    Science.gov (United States)

    Salomatov, V. V.; Kuznetsov, G. V.; Syrodoy, S. V.

    2017-11-01

    The results of the numerical simulation of heat transfer from the combustion products of coal and coal-water fuels (CWF) to the internal environment. The mathematical simulation has been carried out on the sample of the pipe surfaces of the combustion chamber of the boiler unit. The change in the characteristics of heat transfer (change of thermochemical characteristics) in the conditions of formation of the ash deposits have been taken into account. According to the results of the numerical simulation, the comparative analysis of the efficiency of heat transfer has been carried out from the furnace environment to the inside pipe coolant (water, air, or water vapor) from the combustion of coal and coal-water fuels. It has been established that, in the initial period of the boiler unit operation during coal fuel combustion the efficiency of heat transfer from the combustion products of the internal environment is higher than when using CWF. The efficiency of heat transfer in CWF combustion conditions is more at large times (τ≥1.5 hours) of the boiler unit. A significant decrease in heat flux from the combustion products to the inside pipe coolant in the case of coal combustion compared to CWF has been found. It has been proved that this is due primarily to the fact that massive and strong ash deposits are formed during coal combustion.

  6. Dips, ramps, and rolls- Evidence for paleotopographic and syn-depositional fault control on the Western Kentucky No. 4 coal bed, tradewater formation (Bolsovian) Illinois Basin

    Science.gov (United States)

    Greb, S.F.; Eble, C.F.; Williams, D.A.; Nelson, W.J.

    2001-01-01

    The Western Kentucky No. 4 coal is a high-volatile B to high-volatile C bituminous coal that has been heavily mined along the southern margin of the Western Kentucky Coal Field. The seam has a reputation for rolling floor elevation. Elongate trends of floor depressions are referred to as "dips" and "rolls" by miners. Some are relatively narrow and straight to slightly curvilinear in plan view, with generally symmetric to slightly asymmetric cross-sections. Others are broader and asymmetric in section, with sharp dips on one limb and gradual, ramp-like dips on the other. Some limbs change laterally from gradual dip, to sharp dip, to offset of the coal. Lateral changes in the rate of floor elevation dip are often associated with changes in coal thickness, and in underground mines, changes in floor elevation are sometimes associated with roof falls and haulage problems. In order to test if coal thickness changes within floor depressions were associated with changes in palynology, petrography and coal quality, the coal was sampled at a surface mine across a broad. ramp-like depression that showed down-dip coal thickening. Increment samples of coal from a thick (150 cm), down-ramp and thinner (127 cm), up-ramp position at one surface mine correlate well between sample sites (a distance of 60 m) except for a single increment. The anomalous increment (31 cm) in the lower-middle part of the thick coal bed contained 20% more Lycospora orbicula spores. The rolling floor elevations noted in the study mines are inferred to have been formed as a result of pre-peat paleotopographic depressions, syn-depositional faulting, fault-controlled pre-peat paleotopography, and from compaction beneath post-depositional channels and slumps. Although the association of thick coal with linear trends and inferred faults has been used in other basins to infer syn-depositional faulting, changes in palynology within increment samples of the seam along a structural ramp in this study provide

  7. State coal profiles, January 1994

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1994-02-02

    The purpose of State Coal Profiles is to provide basic information about the deposits, production, and use of coal in each of the 27 States with coal production in 1992. Although considerable information on coal has been published on a national level, there is a lack of a uniform overview for the individual States. This report is intended to help fill that gap and also to serve as a framework for more detailed studies. While focusing on coal output, State Coal Profiles shows that the coal-producing States are major users of coal, together accounting for about three-fourths of total US coal consumption in 1992. Each coal-producing State is profiled with a description of its coal deposits and a discussion of the development of its coal industry. Estimates of coal reserves in 1992 are categorized by mining method and sulfur content. Trends, patterns, and other information concerning production, number of mines, miners, productivity, mine price of coal, disposition, and consumption of coal are detailed in statistical tables for selected years from 1980 through 1992. In addition, coal`s contribution to the State`s estimated total energy consumption is given for 1991, the latest year for which data are available. A US summary of all data is provided for comparing individual States with the Nation as a whole. Sources of information are given at the end of the tables.

  8. Petrographic properties of major coal seams in Turkey and their formation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Toprak, Selami [Mineral Research and Exploration Directorate (MTA), 06520 Ankara (Turkey)

    2009-06-01

    Most types of coal in Turkey are generally low in rank: lignite, and subbituminous. Most of the coal was formed during the Miocene, Eocene, and Pliocene ages. There are only a few thin Jurassic-age coal occurrences in Turkey. Pennsylvanian age bituminous coal is found on the Black Sea coast. General implications of the petrographic properties of Turkey's coal seams and coal deposits have not yet been taken into consideration comparatively or as a whole. For this study, about 190 channel samples were collected from different locales. The composite profile samples of the seams were taken into considerations. The content and depositional properties as well as some chemical and physical properties of the main coal seams are compared. All coal samples tend to have similar coal petrographic properties and were deposited in intermontane lacustrine basins. Later, they were affected by faulting and post-depositional volcanic activity. As a result, there are variations in the properties and rank of the coal samples. The most abundant coal maceral group is huminite and the most abundant maceral is gelinite. The liptinite and inertinite contents of the coal are low and the maceral contents of the coals show great similarity. The depositional environments of the all coals are lacustrine dominated. (author)

  9. Geochemical features of the ore-bearing medium in uranium deposits in the Khiagda ore field

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kochkin, B. T.; Solodov, I. N.; Ganina, N. I.; Rekun, M. L.; Tarasov, N. N.; Shugina, G. A.; Shulik, L. S.

    2017-09-01

    The Neogene uranium deposits of the Khiagda ore field (KOF) belong to the paleovalley variety of the hydrogene type and differ from other deposits of this genetic type in the geological and geochemical localization conditions. The contemporary hydrogeochemical setting and microbiological composition of ore-bearing medium are discussed. The redox potential of the medium (Eh is as low as-400 mV) is much lower than those established at other hydrogenic deposits, both ancient Late Mesozoic and young Late Alpine, studied with the same methods in Russia, Uzbekistan, and southern Kazakhstan. The pH of subsurface water (6.86-8.13) differs in significant fluctuations both between neighboring deposits and within individual ore lodes. Hydrogen-forming and denitrifying bacteria are predominant in microbiological populations, whereas sulfate-reducing bacteria are low-active. The consideration of these factors allowed us to describe the mechanism of uranium ore conservation as resulting from the development of the cryolithic zone, which isolates ore lodes from the effect of the external medium. Carbonated water supplied from the basement along fault zones also participates in the formation of the present-day hydrogeochemical setting. Based on the features of the ore-bearing medium, we propose a method of borehole in situ acid leaching to increase the efficiency of mining in the Khiagda ore field.

  10. Palynology in coal systems analysis-The key to floras, climate, and stratigraphy of coal-forming environments

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nichols, D.J.

    2005-01-01

    Palynology can be effectively used in coal systems analysis to understand the nature of ancient coal-forming peat mires. Pollen and spores preserved in coal effectively reveal the floristic composition of mires, which differed substantially through geologic time, and contribute to determination of depositional environment and paleo- climate. Such applications are most effective when integrated with paleobotanical and coal-petrographic data. Examples of previous studies of Miocene, Carboniferous, and Paleogene coal beds illustrate the methods and results. Palynological age determinations and correlations of deposits are also important in coal systems analysis to establish stratigraphic setting. Application to studies of coalbed methane generation shows potential because certain kinds of pollen are associated with gas-prone lithotypes. ??2005 Geological Society of America.

  11. High-BTU gas production from tar-bearing hot coke oven gas over iron catalyst

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    L.Y. Li; K. Morishita; T. Takarada [Gunma University, Gunma (Japan). Department of Biological and Chemical Engineering

    2005-07-01

    To utilize the tar-bearing hot coke oven gas (the by-product of coke making process) more effectively, a process was developed by converting the hot coke oven gas into a methane rich high-BTU gas over iron-bearing catalysts. The catalytic behaviour of Indonesian limonite ore was mainly discussed. For a reference, a conventional nickel catalyst (Ni/Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}) was employed. Laboratory scale tests were carried out in a two-stage fixed-bed reactor at ambient pressure. A bituminous coal sample was heated at first stage, the volatiles was carried by feed gas and decomposed at second stage. The limonite promoted hydropyrolysis of coal volatiles similar to Ni/Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} catalyst. High yields of total product gas and methane were obtained at 50 vol.% hydrogen atmosphere with a feed gas of 60 ml min{sup -1} hydrogen and 60 ml min{sup -1} nitrogen. After experiments, hydrocarbons heavier than ethane were not observed. Also that, carbon balance was more than 99.8% in coal char, product gases and carbon deposits. It was considered that coal volatiles converted into light gases and carbon almost completely in catalyst bed. Yields of product gas and methane depended upon catalytic temperature. At 923 K, the maximum yield of product gas was achieved at 74.3% for limonite catalyst on carbon balance with methane 83.2 vol.% of the carbonaceous gas products. Comparing with limonite, Fe/Al{sub 2}O{sub 3} and BOF dust samples showed low activities on coal volatiles catalytic decomposition. 21 refs., 5 figs., 3 tabs.

  12. Particular cases of materials balance equation generalized for gas deposits associated to the coal

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Penuela, G; Ordonez, A; Bejarano, A

    1997-01-01

    One of the fundamental principles used in the work, developed in engineering is the law of the matter conservation. The application of this principle to the hydrocarbons fields, with the purpose of to quantify and to be predicted expresses by means of materials balance method. While the equation construction of conventional materials balance and the calculations that come with their application are not a difficult task, the approach of selection of the solution that better it represents the deposit it is one of the problems that the petroleum engineer should face. The materials balance is a useful analysis method of the deposit operation, reserves estimate of raw and gas, and prediction of the future behavior of the deposit. The coal, beds, devonian shales and geo pressurized-aquifer are some examples of natural gas sources and to possess production mechanisms and behaviors significantly different to the traditional than have been considered as non conventional deposits

  13. Gas emissions, minerals, and tars associated with three coal fires, Powder River Basin, USA.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Engle, Mark A; Radke, Lawrence F; Heffern, Edward L; O'Keefe, Jennifer M K; Hower, James C; Smeltzer, Charles D; Hower, Judith M; Olea, Ricardo A; Eatwell, Robert J; Blake, Donald R; Emsbo-Mattingly, Stephen D; Stout, Scott A; Queen, Gerald; Aggen, Kerry L; Kolker, Allan; Prakash, Anupma; Henke, Kevin R; Stracher, Glenn B; Schroeder, Paul A; Román-Colón, Yomayra; ter Schure, Arnout

    2012-03-15

    Ground-based surveys of three coal fires and airborne surveys of two of the fires were conducted near Sheridan, Wyoming. The fires occur in natural outcrops and in abandoned mines, all containing Paleocene-age subbituminous coals. Diffuse (carbon dioxide (CO(2)) only) and vent (CO(2), carbon monoxide (CO), methane, hydrogen sulfide (H(2)S), and elemental mercury) emission estimates were made for each of the fires. Additionally, gas samples were collected for volatile organic compound (VOC) analysis and showed a large range in variation between vents. The fires produce locally dangerous levels of CO, CO(2), H(2)S, and benzene, among other gases. At one fire in an abandoned coal mine, trends in gas and tar composition followed a change in topography. Total CO(2) fluxes for the fires from airborne, ground-based, and rate of fire advancement estimates ranged from 0.9 to 780mg/s/m(2) and are comparable to other coal fires worldwide. Samples of tar and coal-fire minerals collected from the mouth of vents provided insight into the behavior and formation of the coal fires. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  14. Thermophysical properties of composite fuel based on T grade coal (Alardinskoe deposit) and timber industry wastes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yankovsky, S. A.; Tolokolnikov, A. A.; Gubin, V. E.; Slyusarskiy, K. V.; Zenkov, A. V.

    2017-09-01

    Results of experimental studies of composite fuel thermal decomposition processes based on T grade coal (Alardinskoe deposit) and timber industry wastes (fine wood) are presented. C, H, N, S weight percentage of each component of composite fuel was determined experimentally. It has been established that with an increase in wood concentration up to 50% in composite fuel, its energy characteristics decrease by less than 3.6%, while the yield of fly ash is 39.7%. An effective composite fuel composition has been defined as 50%/50%. Results of performed experimental studies suggest that it is possible to use composite fuels based on coal and wood at thermal power plants.

  15. Venezuelan coal

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vazquez, L.U.

    1991-01-01

    The existence of coal deposits in Venezuela has been known since the early nineteenth century, when the Naricual Mines were discovered in the State of Anzoategui Eastern Venezuela. Through the years the Venezuelan coal business had its ups and downs, but it was not until 1988 that we could properly say that our coal began to play a role in the international market. This paper reports that it is only now, in the nineties, that Venezuelan coal projects have come under a planning, promotional and developmental policy preparing the ground for the great projects Venezuela will have in the not-too-distant future

  16. Detailed measured sections, cross sections, and paleogeographic reconstructions of the upper cretaceous and lower tertiary nonmarine interval, Wind River Basin, Wyoming: Chapter 10 in Petroleum systems and geologic assessment of oil and gas resources in the Wind River Basin Province, Wyoming

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johnson, Ronald C.

    2007-01-01

    Cretaceous Cody Shale was being eroded off a rising Owl Creek Mountains in latest Cretaceous time. The Paleocene Fort Union Formation unconformably overlies older units but with only slight angular discordance around much of the margins of the Wind River Basin. Pre-Fort Union erosion was most pronounced toward the Wind River Range to the southwest, where the Fort Union ultimately overlies strata as old as the upper part of the Cretaceous Cody Shale. The unconformity appears to die out toward the basin center. Coal-forming mires developed throughout the western part of the basin near the beginning of the Paleocene. River systems entering the basin from the Wind River Range to the southwest and the Granite Mountains to the south produced areas of sandy fluvial deposition along mountain fronts. A major river system appears to have entered the basin from about the same spot along the Wind River Range throughout much of the Paleocene, probably because it became incised and could not migrate laterally. The muddy floodplain facies that developed along the deep basin trough during latest Cretaceous time, expanded during the early part of the Paleocene. Coal-forming mires that characterize part of the lower Fort Union Formation reached maximum extent near the beginning of the late Paleocene and just prior to the initial transgression of Lake Waltman. From the time of initial flooding, Lake Waltman expanded rapidly, drowning the coal-forming mires in the central part of the basin and spreading to near basin margins. Outcrop studies along the south margin of the basin document that once maximum transgression was reached, the lake was rapidly pushed basinward and replaced by fluvial environments.

  17. Computer-aided planning of brown coal seam mining in regard to coal quality

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ciesielski, R.; Lehmann, A.; Rabe, H.; Richter, S.

    1988-09-01

    Discusses features of the geologic SORVER software developed at the Freiberg Fuel Institute, GDR. The program processes geologic data from exploratory wells, petrographic characteristics of a coal seam model, technological mining parameters and coal quality requirements of consumers. Brown coal reserves of coking coal, gasification coal, briquetting coal and steam coal are calculated. Vertical seam profiles and maps of seam horizon isolines can be plotted using the program. Coal quality reserves along the surface of mine benches, mining block widths and lengths for excavators, maximum possible production of individual coal qualities by selective mining, and coal quality losses due to mining procedures are determined. The program is regarded as a means of utilizing deposit reserves more efficiently. 5 refs.

  18. Contamination of settling ponds of coal mines caused by natural radionuclides

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Michalik, B.; Chalupnik, S.; Skubacz, K.; Wysocka, M.; Mielnikow, A.

    2002-01-01

    As a result of a discharge of the radium-bearing waters from coal mines into settlement ponds and later into rivers a significant increase of radium concentration in bottom sediments can be observed. Sometimes also a contamination of river banks, soils and vegetation occurs. Mine waters contain mainly radium isotopes i.e. 226 Ra from uranium series and 228 Ra from thorium series. Due to chemical properties of such brines, these waters contain usually no uranium, no thorium and rather seldom elevated concentration of other isotopes as lead ( 210 Pb) and polonium ( 210 Po). The deposition or adsorption of radium on bottom sediments may take place on a distance of several kilometers from the discharge points. After a deposition or adsorption of radium isotopes the built-up of the activity of their progeny begins. Therefore concentrations of radium isotopes are higher than the decay products. We are able to measure the disequilibrium in 226 Ra decay chain as well as in 228 Ra decay chain, which shows the approximate age of the deposit. The paper describes results of investigation of sediments with enhanced natural radioactivity occurring in settlement ponds, where mine waters have been dumped. The results of measurements show that these deposits contain mainly 226 Ra and 228 Ra and their progeny. Influence of bottom sediments with enhanced radium concentration on the natural environment in the vicinity of settlement ponds was studied on the example of two different water reservoirs where radium-bearing mine waters type A and B are released. The results show clearly enhanced radioactivity of bottom sediments and water in the settling ponds and in the rivers, but no evident enhancement was found in the adjacent land. Both coal mines are located in the drainage area of Vistula river, and bottom sediments with enhanced radium concentrations were found in Vistula up to 70 km downstream from the discharge point. (author)

  19. Difference of ore-bearing and non-ore-bearing pegmatite in the Guangshigou area and its research significance

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zuo Wenqian; Zhang Zhanshi; Sha Yazhou; Rao Chaojun

    2011-01-01

    Guangshigou uranium deposit is one of the typical granite-pegmatite uranium deposits in China, the ore-body are located in the density zone of the outside contact zone of granite pluton. To distinguish the ore-bearing and Non-ore-bearing pegmatite is one of the most practices and have great significance for the effect of mineral exploration. Based on the field investigation and former research results, contrast research on the characteristics of the pegmatite on petrology, geophysical, geochemistry and stable isotopes have been carried out. It is pointed out that the ore-bearing pegmatite differ from the non-ore-bearing one from macro-and-micro-view in Guangshigou Uranium deposits, the main characteristics are summarized; the macro-and-micro signs are established, the genetic difference between the ore-bearing and non-ore-bearing pegmatite are discussed primarily. The achievements would be helpful for prospecting and researching of this type uranium deposits in China. (authors)

  20. Influences of volcanism on coal quality - Examples from the western United States

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hildebrand, R.T.; Affolter, R.H.

    1986-01-01

    Several small Tertiary coal deposits in Idaho, Nevada, and Washington formed in fresh-water basins located near active continental (salic) volcanic centers. Metastable glassy material (tephra) ejected during volcanic eruptions was introduced into the coal-forming environment of these basins as ash falls. This tephra contributed to the high ash content of many of the coal beds, formed laterally persistent partings (''tonsteins'') in the coal, and constitutes a large part of the strata enclosing the deposits. In order to study the possible relationships between the presence of tephra and coal quality, chemical data for 65 coal samples from 12 of these deposits were compiled and statistically analyzed. The results indicate that, in addition to the high ash content, coal from Tertiary deposits containing appreciable amounts of tephra generally is enriched in many elements compared to 460 coal samples from 11 deposits of similar ages remote from volcanic activity

  1. Mobility and contamination assessment of mercury in coal fly ash, atmospheric deposition, and soil collected from Tianjin, China.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wei, Zheng; Wu, Guanghong; Su, Ruixian; Li, Congwei; Liang, Peiyu

    2011-09-01

    Samples of class F coal fly ash (levels I, II, and III), slag, coal, atmospheric deposition, and soils collected from Tianjin, China, were analyzed using U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) Method 3052 and a sequential extraction procedure, to investigate the pollution status and mobility of Hg. The results showed that total mercury (HgT) concentrations were higher in level I fly ash (0.304 µg/g) than in level II and level III fly ash and slag (0.142, 0.147, and 0.052 µg/g, respectively). Total Hg in the atmospheric deposition was higher during the heating season (0.264 µg/g) than the nonheating season (0.135 µg/g). Total Hg contents were higher in suburban area soils than in rural and agricultural areas. High HgT concentrations in suburban area soils may be a result of the deposition of Hg associated with particles emitted from coal-fired power plants. Mercury in fly ash primarily existed as elemental Hg, which accounted for 90.1, 85.3, and 90.6% of HgT in levels I, II, and III fly ash, respectively. Mercury in the deposition existed primarily as sulfide Hg, which accounted for 73.8% (heating season) and 74.1% (nonheating season) of HgT. However, Hg in soils existed primarily as sulfide Hg, organo-chelated Hg and elemental Hg, which accounted for 37.8 to 50.0%, 31.7 to 41.8%, and 13.0 to 23.9% of HgT, respectively. The percentage of elemental Hg in HgT occurred in the order fly ash > atmospheric deposition > soils, whereas organo-chelated Hg and sulfide Hg occurred in the opposite order. The present approach can provide a window for understanding and tracing the source of Hg in the environment in Tianjin and the risk associated with Hg bioaccessibility. Copyright © 2011 SETAC.

  2. A scanning electron microscopy study of ash, char, deposits and fuels from straw combustion and co-combustion of coal and straw

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sund Soerensen, H.

    1998-07-01

    The SEM-study of samples from straw combustion and co-combustion of straw and coal have yielded a reference selection of representative images that will be useful for future comparison. The sample material encompassed potential fuels (wheat straw and grain), bottom ash, fly ash and deposits from straw combustion as well as fuels (coal and wheat straw), chars, bottom ash, fly ash and deposits from straw + coal co-combustion. Additionally, a variety of laboratory ashes were studied. SEM and CCSEM analysis of the samples have given a broad view of the inorganic components of straw and of the distribution of elements between individual ash particles and deposits. The CCSEM technique does, however, not detect dispersed inorganic elements in biomass, so to get a more complete visualization of the distribution of inorganic elements additional analyses must be performed, for example progressive leaching. In contrast, the CCSEM technique is efficient in characterizing the distribution of elements in ash particles and between ash fractions and deposits. The data for bottom ashes and fly ashes have indicated that binding of potassium to silicates occurs to a significant extent. The silicates can either be in the form of alumino-silicates or quartz (in co-combustion) or be present as straw-derived amorphous silica (in straw combustion). This process is important for two reasons. One is that potasium lowers the melting point of silica in the fly ash, potentially leading to troublesome deposits by particle impaction and sticking to heat transfer surfaces. The other is that the reaction between potassium and silica in the bottom ash binds part of the potassium meaning that it is not available for reaction with chlorine or sulphur to form KCl or K{sub 2}SO{sub 4}. Both phases are potentially troublesome because they can condense of surfaces to form a sticky layer onto which fly ash particles can adhere and by inducing corrosion beneath the deposit. It appears that in the studied

  3. Deposit Mariovo geological characteristics coal quality and quantity

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Andreevski, Borche

    2008-01-01

    Evaluation of the actual situation with energy resources, in a global scale, shows negative trends, which is result from the numerous complex factors influences. Special influence over these trends has increased requirement and consumption of the fossil fuels, driven by the intensive technological development and unplanned long-term exploitation, which causes huge reduction of the available fossil fuels deposits and significant price oscillations. Additional contribution to this tendency has the fact that potential fossil fuels reserves are controlled from limited number of owners, which allows them to have global geo-strategic control over the energy resources, world politics and other types of influences. In such conditions underdevelopment countries will feel the biggest consequences and they will be forced to provide(conditionally, if there is an energy surplus at the market) and to save considerable financial resources for satisfying their needs. Maximal usage of country's own possessed energy raw material bases the only way out from this situation and it is also used by the countries which are at he greatest development level then ours. If we want to incorporate these reserves into the energetic strategy and energy balances they must be exactly defined and determined. According to the presented approach, paper has aim to make synthesis of previous investigations, through argumentation of geological specifics and quantitative-qualitative characteristics of deposit Mariovo coal given in the available documentation, and also has intention to point out its respectable characteristics. (Author)

  4. Deposit Mariovo geological characteristics coal quality and quantity

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Andreevski, Borche

    2007-01-01

    Evaluation of the actual situation with energy resources, in a global scale, shows negative trends, which is result from the numerous complex factors influences. Special influence over these trends has increased requirement and consumption of the fossil fuels, driven by the intensive technological development and unplanned long-term exploitation, which causes huge reduction of the available fossil fuels deposits and significant price oscillations. Additional contribution to this tendency has the fact that potential fossil fuels reserves are controlled from limited number of owners, which allows them to have global geo-strategic control over the energy resources, world politics and other types of influences. In such conditions underdevelopment countries will feel the biggest consequences and they will be forced to provide(conditionally, if there is an energy surplus at the market) and to save considerable financial resources for satisfying their needs. Maximal usage of country's own possessed energy raw material bases the only way out from this situation and it is also used by the countries which are at he greatest development level then ours. If we want to incorporate these reserves into the energetic strategy and energy balances they must be exactly defined and determined. According to the presented approach, paper has aim to make synthesis of previous investigations, through argumentation of geological specifics and quantitative-qualitative characteristics of deposit Mariovo coal given in the available documentation, and also has intention to point out its respectable characteristics. (Author)

  5. Coal-gold agglomeration: an alternative separation process in gold recovery

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Akcil, A.; Wu, X.Q.; Aksay, E.K. [Suleyman Demirel University, Isparta (Turkey). Dept. of Mining Engineering

    2009-07-01

    Considering the increasing environmental concerns and the potential for small gold deposits to be exploited in the future, the uses of environmentally friendly processes are essential. Recent developments point to the potential for greatly increased plant performance through a separation process that combines the cyanide and flotation processes. In addition, this kind of alternative treatment processes to the traditional gold recovery processes may reduce the environmental risks of present small-scale gold mining. Gold recovery processes that applied to different types of gold bearing ore deposits show that the type of deposits plays an important role for the selection of mineral processing technologies in the production of gold and other precious metals. In the last 25 years, different alternative processes have been investigated on gold deposits located in areas where environmental issues are a great concern. In 1988, gold particles were first recovered by successful pilot trial of coal-gold agglomeration (CGA) process in Australia. The current paper reviews the importance of CGA in the production of gold ore and identifies areas for further development work.

  6. Sequence stratigraphy, organic petrology and chemistry applied to the upper and lower coal seams in the Candiota Coalfield, Parana Basin, RS, Brazil

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Oliveira, J.S. de; Kalkreuth, W. [Instituto de Geociencias, UFRGS, Porto Alegre (Brazil)

    2010-12-01

    The Permian age coal seams in the Candiota Coalfield represent the largest coal deposit of the country. Currently two seams are mined, called ''Camada Candiota Superior'' and ''Camada Candiota Inferior''. The other coal seams of the coalfield, seams S1-S9 (upper seams) and I1-I5 (lower seams) have as yet not been exploited. The objective of this paper is to perform a detailed sequence stratigraphic, petrologic and chemical study of the upper and lower coal seams, thereby generating data for assisting in the development and better use of the coal-bearing interval. The methodology includes application of the concepts of sequence stratigraphy, which includes the lithological interpretation of the core to establish the depositional environments and genetic correlation between facies associations to define parasequences and bounding surfaces; coal petrology (analysis of the reflectance of vitrinite, determination of the petrographic composition of the coals by maceral analyses), and chemical analyses such as sulphur determination, proximate analyses (ash, moisture, volatile matter, and fixed carbon), and elemental analyses. Three main depositional systems were so far identified: alluvial fan, fluvial system, lagoonal estuary system. This study shows that coal development was controlled by accommodation/accumulation rates, with coal seams with greater thickness and lateral continuity being formed within the transgressive systems tract (lagoonal depositional system) of parasequence 2 (PS2), indicating that the accumulation rates of the peat and distribution of the coal seams were controlled by stratigraphic setting. Vitrinite reflectances for the upper and lower coal seams are indicative of subbituminous rank (Rrandom = 0.36-0.47%), with evidence that anomalously low reflectance values are related to high mineral-matter contents. Maceral composition is highly variable, with some coal seams being extremely rich in inertinite (up to

  7. Proceedings of the second symposium on the geology of Rocky Mountain coal, 1977

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hodgson, H. E. [ed.

    1978-01-01

    The 1977 Symposium on the Geology of Rocky Mountain Coal was held May 9 and 10 on the campus of the Colorado School of Mines in Golden, Colorado. The 1977 Symposium was sponsored by the Colorado Geological Survey and the US Geological Survey. The 1977 Symposium consisted of four technical sessions: Depositional Models for Coal Exploration in the Rocky Mountain Cretaceous; Stratigraphy and Depositional Environments of Rocky Mountain Tertiary Coal Deposits; Depositional Models for Coal Exploration in non-Rocky Mountain Regions; and Application of Geology to Coal Mining and Coal Mine Planning. Several papers discuss geophysical survey and well logging techniques applied to the exploration of coal deposits and for mine planning. Fouteen papers have been entered individually into EDB and ERA. (LTN)

  8. The anthracite of Nazar-Aylok Deposit

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pachadzhanov, D.N.; Valiev, Yu.Ya.

    2013-01-01

    Present article is devoted to anthracite of Nazar-Aylok Deposit. The ash content, composition of coals of Nazar-Aylok Deposit and thickness of deposit were considered. The coal samples were studied by means of neutron activation analysis.

  9. Extraction of hydrocarbon products from shales and coals

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Reed, V Z

    1918-05-17

    A process is disclosed of extracting hydrocarbon oil matter from petroleum-bearing shales and coals which comprises subjecting a mass of such shale or coal, before distillation to the solvent action of material containing an acid, permitting the solvent material to pass through the mass of shale or coal, and recovering the combined solvent and extracted matter.

  10. A study of geochemical prospecting for uranium-bearing low grade coal beds in Korea

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, O.B.

    1980-01-01

    Trend surface analysis was applied in order to find the criteria for geochemcial prospecting of uranium bearing narrow coal bed in Ogcheon Group. Soil samples were taken from the Mogso-ri area, the Deogpyeong-ri area, and the Jeogum-ri area and were analyzed for U, V, Mo, Pb, Zn, Cu, Cd, and Cr by colorimetry and atomic absorption. All data were processed statistically by HP 3000 computer. The results were as follows: Molybdenium could be used as the best competent indicator element for uranium. Lead, Copper, Vanadium could be used as assistant indicator. The trend surface analysis and the residual map were very useful for statistical interpretation of analyzed data. Second or third degree trend surface analysis was sufficient for this work. The trend map revealed that the origin of uranium in these area was the same. (Author)

  11. Depositional environments of the uranium bearing Cutler Formations, Lisbon Valley, Utah

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Campbell, J.A.; Steele-Mallory, B.A.

    1979-01-01

    The Cutler Formation in Lisbon Valley, San Juan County, Utah, is composed predominantly of fluvial arkosic sandstones, siltstones, shales, and mudstones that were deposited by meandering streams that flowed across a flood plain and tidal flat close to sea level. Two types of channel deposits are recognized from their sedimentary structures: meandering and distributary. The flood plain was occasionally transgressed by a shallow sea from the west, resulting in the deposition of several thin limestones and marine sandstones. The marine sandstones were deposited as longshore bars. Wind transported sand along the shoreline of the shallow sea, forming a coastal dune field. Marine sandstones and eolian sandstones are more common in the upper Cutler in the southern part of the area, whereas in the central and northern part of the area the formation is predominantly fluvial. Crossbed orientation indicates that Cutler streams flowed S. 67 0 W. on the average, whereas marine currents moved sediment S. 36 0 E. and N. 24 0 W., and wind transported sand S. 80 0 E. The uranium in the Cutler is found in the central and northern part of the area, in the upper part of the formation, in small fluvial sandstone bodies that were deposited predominantly in a distributary environment. No uranium is known in the marine or eolian sandstones. Petrographically, the uranium-bearing sandstones are identical to other Cutler fluvial sandstones except that they contain less calcite and more clay and are slightly coarser grained. Ore formation has modified the host sandstones very little

  12. Depositional environments of the uranium-bearing Cutler Formations, Lisbon Valley, Utah

    Science.gov (United States)

    Campbell, John A.; Steele-Mallory, Brenda A.

    1979-01-01

    The Cutler Formation in Lisbon Valley, San Juan County, Utah, is composed predominantly of fluvial arkosic sandstones, siltstones, shales, and mudstones that were deposited by meandering streams that flowed across a flood plain and tidal flat close to sea level. Two types of channel deposits are recognized from their sedimentary structures: meandering and distributary. The flood plain was occasionally transgressed by a shallow sea from the west, resulting in the deposition of several thin limestones and marine sandstones. The marine sandstones were deposited as longshore bars. Wind transported sand along the shoreline of the shallow sea, forming a coastal dune field. Marine sandstones and eolian sandstones are more common in the upper Cutler in the southern part of the area, whereas in the central and northern part of the area the formation is predominantly fluvial. Crossbed orientation indicates that Cutler streams flowed S. 67? W. on the the average, whereas marine currents moved sediment S. 36? E. and N. 24? W., and wind transported sand S. 800 E. The uranium in the Cutler is found in the central and northern part of the area, in the upper part of the formation, in small fluvial sandstone bodies that were deposited predominantly in a distributary environment. No uranium is known in the marine or eolian sandstones. Petrographically, the uranium-bearing sandstones are identical to other Cutler fluvial sandstones except that they contain less calcite and more clay and are slightly coarser grained. Ore formation has modified the host sandstones very little.

  13. Comparison of Methane Control Methods in Polish and Vietnamese Coal Mines

    Science.gov (United States)

    Borowski, Marek; Kuczera, Zbigniew

    2018-03-01

    Methane hazard often occurs in hard coal mines and causes very serious accidents and can be the reason of methane or methane and coal dust explosions. History of coal mining shows that methane released from the rock mass to the longwall area was responsible for numerous mining disasters. The main source of methane are coal deposits because it is autochthonous gas and is closely related with carbonification and forming of coal deposits. Degree of methane saturation in coal deposits depends on numerous factors; mainly on presence or lack of insulating layers in cover deposit that allow or do not on degasification and easily methane outflow into surroundings. Hence in coal mining there are coal deposits that contain only low degree of methane saturation in places where is lack of insulating layers till high in methane coal deposits occurring in insulating claystones or in shales. Conducting mining works in coal deposits of high methane hazard without using of special measures to combat (ventilation, methane drainage) could be impossible. Control of methane hazard depends also on other co-occuring natural dangers for which used preventive actions eliminate methane hazard. Safety in mines excavating coal deposits saturated with methane depends on the correct estimation of methane hazard, drawn up forecasts, conducted observations, hazard control as well as undertaken prevention measures. Methane risk prevention includes identification and control methods of methane hazards as well as means of combating the explosive accumulation of methane in longwall workings. The main preventive actions in underground coal mines are: effective ventilation that prevents forming of methane fuses or placed methane accumulation in headings ventilated by airflow created by main fans and in headings with auxiliary ventilation, methane drainage using drain holes that are drilled from underground headings or from the surface, methanometry control of methane concentration in the air; location

  14. Comparison of Methane Control Methods in Polish and Vietnamese Coal Mines

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Borowski Marek

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Methane hazard often occurs in hard coal mines and causes very serious accidents and can be the reason of methane or methane and coal dust explosions. History of coal mining shows that methane released from the rock mass to the longwall area was responsible for numerous mining disasters. The main source of methane are coal deposits because it is autochthonous gas and is closely related with carbonification and forming of coal deposits. Degree of methane saturation in coal deposits depends on numerous factors; mainly on presence or lack of insulating layers in cover deposit that allow or do not on degasification and easily methane outflow into surroundings. Hence in coal mining there are coal deposits that contain only low degree of methane saturation in places where is lack of insulating layers till high in methane coal deposits occurring in insulating claystones or in shales. Conducting mining works in coal deposits of high methane hazard without using of special measures to combat (ventilation, methane drainage could be impossible. Control of methane hazard depends also on other co-occuring natural dangers for which used preventive actions eliminate methane hazard. Safety in mines excavating coal deposits saturated with methane depends on the correct estimation of methane hazard, drawn up forecasts, conducted observations, hazard control as well as undertaken prevention measures. Methane risk prevention includes identification and control methods of methane hazards as well as means of combating the explosive accumulation of methane in longwall workings. The main preventive actions in underground coal mines are: effective ventilation that prevents forming of methane fuses or placed methane accumulation in headings ventilated by airflow created by main fans and in headings with auxiliary ventilation, methane drainage using drain holes that are drilled from underground headings or from the surface, methanometry control of methane concentration in

  15. Quantified abundance of magnetofossils at the Paleocene-Eocene boundary from synchrotron-based transmission X-ray microscopy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Huapei; Wang, Jun; Chen-Wiegart, Yu-Chen Karen; Kent, Dennis V

    2015-10-13

    The Paleocene-Eocene boundary (∼55.8 million years ago) is marked by an abrupt negative carbon isotope excursion (CIE) that coincides with an oxygen isotope decrease interpreted as the Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum. Biogenic magnetite (Fe3O4) in the form of giant (micron-sized) spearhead-like and spindle-like magnetofossils, as well as nano-sized magnetotactic bacteria magnetosome chains, have been reported in clay-rich sediments in the New Jersey Atlantic Coastal Plain and were thought to account for the distinctive single-domain magnetic properties of these sediments. Uncalibrated strong field magnet extraction techniques have been typically used to provide material for scanning and transmission electron microscopic imaging of these magnetic particles, whose concentration in the natural sediment is thus difficult to quantify. In this study, we use a recently developed ultrahigh-resolution, synchrotron-based, full-field transmission X-ray microscope to study the iron-rich minerals within the clay sediment in their bulk state. We are able to estimate the total magnetization concentration of the giant biogenic magnetofossils to be only ∼10% of whole sediment. Along with previous rock magnetic studies on the CIE clay, we suggest that most of the magnetite in the clay occurs as isolated, near-equidimensional nanoparticles, a suggestion that points to a nonbiogenic origin, such as comet impact plume condensates in what may be very rapidly deposited CIE clays.

  16. Ultravitrinite coals from Chukotka

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lapo, A.V.; Letushova, I.A.

    1979-03-01

    Chemical and petrographic analysis was conducted on coals from the Anadyrya and Bukhti Ugol'noi deposits. Characteristics of the most prevalent type of vitrinite coals in both regions are presented here. Anadyrya coals belong to a transitional phase between brown coal and long flame. Ultravitrinite coals predominate. Gas coals from Bukti Ugol'noi have a higher carbon content than Anadyrya coals. They also have a higher hydrogen content and yield of initial resin. In several cases there was also a higher yield of volatile substances. Chukotka coals are characterized by a 10 percent higher initial resin yield than equally coalified Donetsk coals, other indicators were equal to those of Donetsk coals. Because of this, Chukotka coals are suitable for fuel in power plants and as raw materials in the chemical industry. (15 refs.) (In Russian)

  17. An analysis of prominent prospect of in-situ sandstone type uranium deposits in Yanji basins group, Jilin province

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Peng Zhidong; Zhang Shuyi

    2003-01-01

    In Mesozoic-Cenozoic era, many medium-small-sized sedimentary basins had been formed in Yanbian draped-faulted region of Jilin Province. The basement of these basins is constituted of U-riched granite body produced during late Hercynian-early Yanshan period. Uranium-mineralization has been found in coal-bearing formation, oil-bearing formation and in tint layer of red formation. On the bases of analyzing of uranium source, geologic tectonic, paleoclimatology, paleogeography, hydrogeology and reconstruction, it is concluded that there is a prominent prospect to discover large in-situ sandstone-type uranium deposits in Yanji basins. (authors)

  18. Two Mechanisms for Methane Release at the Paleocene/Eocene Boundary

    Science.gov (United States)

    Katz, M. E.; Cramer, B. S.; Mountain, G. S.; Mountain, G. S.; Katz, S.; Miller, K. G.; Miller, K. G.

    2001-12-01

    The rapid global warming of the Paleocene/Eocene thermal maximum (PETM) has been attributed to a massive methane release from marine gas hydrate reservoirs. Two mechanisms have been proposed for this methane release. The first relies on a deepwater circulation change and water temperature increase that was sufficiently large and rapid to trigger massive thermal dissociation of gas hydrate frozen beneath the seafloor (Dickens et al., 1995). The second relies on slope failure (via erosion or seismic activity) of the oversteepened continental margins of the western North Atlantic to allow methane to escape from gas reservoirs trapped between the hydrate-bearing sediments and the underlying reef front (Katz et al., in press). We evaluate thermal dissociation by modeling heat flow through the sediments to show the effect of the temperature change on the gas hydrate stability zone through time. We use Paleocene bottom water temperatures (constrained by isotope records) and assume an instantaneous water temperature increase (i.e., no time allotted for ocean circulation change and water mass mixing). This yields an end-member minimum estimate of >2350 years necessary to melt all gas hydrate at locations shallower than 1570m; gas hydrates at greater depths remain frozen. We also use this model to predict the amount of C12-enriched methane that could have contributed to the carbon isotope excursion (CIE). Using reasonable methane distributions within sediments, we conclude that thermal dissociation alone cannot account for the full magnitude of the CIE. We propose that thermal dissociation did not initiate the CIE; rather, a different mechanism injected a large amount of carbon into the atmosphere, causing global greenhouse warming that could have led to subsequent thermal dissociation. Methane remains a plausible source for this initial carbon injection; however, initial release would have resulted from mechanical disruption of sediments rather than thermal dissociation

  19. Grizzly bear diet shifting on reclaimed mines

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bogdan Cristescu

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available Industrial developments and reclamation change habitat, possibly altering large carnivore food base. We monitored the diet of a low-density population of grizzly bears occupying a landscape with open-pit coal mines in Canada. During 2009–2010 we instrumented 10 bears with GPS radiocollars and compared their feeding on reclaimed coal mines and neighboring Rocky Mountains and their foothills. In addition, we compared our data with historical bear diet for the same population collected in 2001–2003, before extensive mine reclamation occurred. Diet on mines (n=331 scats was dominated by non-native forbs and graminoids, while diets in the Foothills and Mountains consisted primarily of ungulates and Hedysarum spp. roots respectively, showing diet shifting with availability. Field visitation of feeding sites (n=234 GPS relocation clusters also showed that ungulates were the main diet component in the Foothills, whereas on reclaimed mines bears were least carnivorous. These differences illustrate a shift to feeding on non-native forbs while comparisons with historical diet reveal emergence of elk as an important bear food. Food resources on reclaimed mines attract bears from wilderness areas and bears may be more adaptable to landscape change than previously thought. The grizzly bear’s ready use of mines cautions the universal view of this species as umbrella indicative of biodiversity.

  20. Early Paleocene landbird supports rapid phylogenetic and morphological diversification of crown birds after the K-Pg mass extinction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ksepka, Daniel T.; Stidham, Thomas A.; Williamson, Thomas E.

    2017-07-01

    Evidence is accumulating for a rapid diversification of birds following the K-Pg extinction. Recent molecular divergence dating studies suggest that birds radiated explosively during the first few million years of the Paleocene; however, fossils from this interval remain poorly represented, hindering our understanding of morphological and ecological specialization in early neoavian birds. Here we report a small fossil bird from the Nacimiento Formation of New Mexico, constrained to 62.221-62.517 Ma. This partial skeleton represents the oldest arboreal crown group bird known. Phylogenetic analyses recovered Tsidiiyazhi abini gen. et sp. nov. as a member of the Sandcoleidae, an extinct basal clade of stem mousebirds (Coliiformes). The discovery of Tsidiiyazhi pushes the minimum divergence ages of as many as nine additional major neoavian lineages into the earliest Paleocene, compressing the duration of the proposed explosive post-K-Pg radiation of modern birds into a very narrow temporal window parallel to that suggested for placental mammals. Simultaneously, Tsidiiyazhi provides evidence for the rapid morphological (and likely ecological) diversification of crown birds. Features of the foot indicate semizygodactyly (the ability to facultatively reverse the fourth pedal digit), and the arcuate arrangement of the pedal trochleae bears a striking resemblance to the conformation in owls (Strigiformes). Inclusion of fossil taxa and branch length estimates impacts ancestral state reconstructions, revealing support for the independent evolution of semizygodactyly in Coliiformes, Leptosomiformes, and Strigiformes, none of which is closely related to extant clades exhibiting full zygodactyly.

  1. Geology and geomorphology of Bear Lake Valley and upper Bear River, Utah and Idaho

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reheis, M.C.; Laabs, B.J.C.; Kaufman, D.S.

    2009-01-01

    Bear Lake, on the Idaho-Utah border, lies in a fault-bounded valley through which the Bear River flows en route to the Great Salt Lake. Surficial deposits in the Bear Lake drainage basin provide a geologic context for interpretation of cores from Bear Lake deposits. In addition to groundwater discharge, Bear Lake received water and sediment from its own small drainage basin and sometimes from the Bear River and its glaciated headwaters. The lake basin interacts with the river in complex ways that are modulated by climatically induced lake-level changes, by the distribution of active Quaternary faults, and by the migration of the river across its fluvial fan north of the present lake. The upper Bear River flows northward for ???150 km from its headwaters in the northwestern Uinta Mountains, generally following the strike of regional Laramide and late Cenozoic structures. These structures likely also control the flow paths of groundwater that feeds Bear Lake, and groundwater-fed streams are the largest source of water when the lake is isolated from the Bear River. The present configuration of the Bear River with respect to Bear Lake Valley may not have been established until the late Pliocene. The absence of Uinta Range-derived quartzites in fluvial gravel on the crest of the Bear Lake Plateau east of Bear Lake suggests that the present headwaters were not part of the drainage basin in the late Tertiary. Newly mapped glacial deposits in the Bear River Range west of Bear Lake indicate several advances of valley glaciers that were probably coeval with glaciations in the Uinta Mountains. Much of the meltwater from these glaciers may have reached Bear Lake via groundwater pathways through infiltration in the karst terrain of the Bear River Range. At times during the Pleistocene, the Bear River flowed into Bear Lake and water level rose to the valley threshold at Nounan narrows. This threshold has been modified by aggradation, downcutting, and tectonics. Maximum lake

  2. Natural Radionuclides in Slag/Ash Pile from Coal-Fired Power Plant Plomin

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Barisic, D.; Lulic, S.; Marovic, G.; Sencar, J.

    2001-01-01

    Full text: The coal slag/ash pile contains about one million tons of different (bottom ash, filter ash, gypsum) waste material deposited in vicinity of Plomin coal-fired power plant. Activities of 40 K, 228 Ra, 226 Ra and 238 U in materials deposited on slag/ash pile as well as in used coals were occasionally measured during past more than two and half decades of Plomin coal-fired plant operation. The radionuclides content in deposited bottom and filter ash material are related with radionuclide activities and mineral matter fraction in coals used. Up to the middle of nineties, the majority of coal used was anthracite from Istrian local mines. In that period, deposited waste material was characterised with relatively high 226 Ra and 238 U activities while potassium and thorium content was very low. When Istrian coal has been completely substituted with imported coal, uranium series radionuclide concentrations in deposited waste materials decreased significantly. Meanwhile, potassium and thorium activities in slag/ash pile material increased. It seems that slag/ash pile material generated in the last several years of Plomin coal-fired power plant operation could be generally used in cement industry without any special restriction. (author)

  3. Volcanic ash in feed coal and its influence on coal combustion products

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Brownfield, M.E.; Affolter, R.H.; Cathcart, J.D.; Brownfield, I.K.; Hower, J.C.; Stricker, G.D.; O' Connor, J.T.

    2000-07-01

    The US Geological Survey and the University of Kentucky Center for Applied Energy Research are collaborating with an Indiana Utility to determine the physical and chemical properties of feed coal and coal combustion products (CCPs) from a coal-fired power plant. The plant utilizes a low-sulfur (.23--.47 weight percent S) coal from the Powder River Basin, Wyoming. Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis of feed coal samples identified two mineral suites. A primary suite (not authigenic) consisting of quartz (detrital and volcanic beta-form grains), biotite, and minor zircon and a secondary authigenic mineral suite containing calcite, alumino-phosphates (crandallite and gorceixite), kaolinite, quartz, anatase, barite, and pyrite. The authigenic minerals are attributed to air-fall and reworked volcanic ash that was deposited in peat-forming mires. The Powder River Basin feed coals contain higher amounts of Ba, Ca, Mg, Na, Sr, and P compared to other analyzed eastern coals. These elements are associated with alumino-phosphate, biotite, calcite, and clay minerals. The element associations are indicative of coal that incorporated volcanic ash during deposition. XRD analysis of CCPs revealed a predominance of glass, perovskite, lime, gehlenite, quartz, and phosphates with minor amounts of periclase, anhydrite, hematite, and spinel group minerals in the fly ash; and quartz, plagioclase (albite and anorthite), pyroxene (augite and fassaite), rhodonite, and akermanite in the bottom ash. Microprobe and SEM analysis of fly ash samples revealed quartz, zircon, monazite, euhedral laths of corundum with merrillite, hematite, dendritic spinels/ferrites, and rounded grains of wollastonite with periclase. The abundant Ca and Mg mineral phases in the fly ashes are related to the presence of carbonate, clay, and phosphate minerals in the feed coal. The Ca- and Mg-rich mineral phases in the CCPs can be attributed to volcanic minerals deposited in the

  4. Identification of Zn-Bearing Micas and Clays from the Cristal and Mina Grande Zinc Deposits (Bongará Province, Amazonas Region, Northern Peru

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Giuseppe Arfè

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available Zn-bearing phyllosilicates are common minerals in nonsulfide Zn deposits, but they seldom represent the prevailing economic species. However, even though the presence of Zn-bearing clays is considered as a disadvantage in mineral processing, their characteristics can give crucial information on the genesis of the oxidized mineralization. This research has been carried out on the Mina Grande and Cristal Zn-sulfide/nonsulfide deposits, which occur in the Bongará district (Northern Peru. In both of the deposits, Zn-bearing micas and clays occur as an accessory to the ore minerals. The XRD analyses and scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS investigations revealed that the Zn-bearing micas that are occurring in both deposits mostly consist of I/S mixed layers of detrital origin, which have been partly altered or overprinted by sauconite during the supergene alteration of sulfides. Sporadic hendricksite was also identified in the Cristal nonsulfide mineral assemblage, whereas at Mina Grande, the fraipontite-zaccagnaite (3R-polytype association was detected. The identified zaccagnaite polytype suggests that both fraipontite and zaccagnaite are genetically related to weathering processes. The hendricksite detected at Cristal is a product of hydrothermal alteration, which is formed during the emplacement of sulfides. The complex nature of the identified phyllosilicates may be considered as evidence of the multiple processes (hydrothermal and supergene that occurred in the Bongará district.

  5. The organic geochemistry characteristic simple analyse of Shihongtan sandstone-type uranium deposit in Turpan-Hami basin

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Qiao Haiming; Cai Jinfang; Shang Gaofeng; Song Zhe

    2007-12-01

    The Shihongtan uranium deposit in Turpan-Hami basin is an interlayer oxi- dized zone type sandstone uranium deposit. The deposit occurs in the coal-bear- ing detrital rocks of braided meandering steam facies in the Middle Jurassic Xishanyao formation. There is a great deal of organic matter in the ore-hosting bed. There is distinct content of organic carbon, soluble organic matter, acidolysis hydrocarbon in various geochemistry belt rock, and the maximum content in the ore belt. Organics carbon mother-material type is sapropelic humus, organic matter is under mature stage, Acidolysis hydrocarbon is coal-gas type. Uranium content in rock is positive correlativity to soluble organics and acidolysis hydrocarbon by statistical count, The role of organic matter in sandstone type uranium metallogenetic process is analysed, it is thought that material decomposed under oxygenic coalition is advantage to uranium dissolution and migration in groundwater, material decomposed and polymerized under oxygen-deficient condition forms reducing and adsorption geochemistry barrier for uranium precipitation, play a important role in uranium metallogenetic process. (authors)

  6. Task 50 - deposition of lignites in the Fort Union Group and related strata of the northern Great Plains

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hartman, J.H.; Roth, B.; Kihm, A.J.

    1997-08-11

    Late Cretaceous, Paleocene, and early Eocene geologic and paleontologic studies were undertaken in western North Dakota, eastern and south-central Montana, and northwestern and northeastern Wyoming. These study areas comprise the Williston, Bighorn, and Powder River Basins, all of which contain significant lignite resources. Research was undertaken in these basins because they have the best geologic sections and fossil record for the development of a chronostratigraphic (time-rock) framework for the correlation of lignite beds and other economic resources. A thorough understanding of the precise geologic age of the deposition of sediments permits a powerful means of interpreting the record of geologic events across the northern Great Plains. Such an understanding allows for rigorous interpretation of paleoenviromnents and estimates of resource potential and quality in this area of economically significant deposits. This work is part of ongoing research to document change in the composition of molluscan fossil faunas to provide a paleoenvironmentally sensitive independent means of interpreting time intervals of brief duration during the Late Cretaceous, Paleocene, and Eocene. This study focuses on the record of mollusks and, to a lesser extent, mammals in the (1) Hell Creek-Tullock Formations, which include the Cretaceous-Paleocene boundary, in the western portion of the Williston Basin, Montana; (2) uppermost Cretaceous, Paleocene, and lowermost Eocene strata in western North Dakota, which -includes the last interior seaway in North Dakota; (3) upper Paleocene and lowermost Eocene of the northern portion of the Bighorn Basin of south-central Montana and northwestern Wyoming; and (4) Powder River Basin of northeastern Wyoming and southeastern Montana. The geologic record provides different physical and paleontological information to aid in interpreting the geologic record through the study interval.

  7. Impacts of Coal Seam Gas (Coal Bed Methane) Extraction on Water Resources in Australia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Post, David

    2017-04-01

    While extraction of methane from shale gas deposits has been the principal source of the recent expansion of the industry in the United States, in Australia extraction of methane from coal bed methane deposits (termed 'coal seam gas' in Australia) has been the focus to date. The two sources of methane share many of the same characteristics including the potential requirement for hydraulic fracturing. However, as coal seam gas deposits generally occur at shallower depths than shale gas, the potential impacts of extraction on surface and groundwater resources may be of even greater concern. In Australia, an Independent Expert Scientific Committee (IESC) has been established to provide scientific advice to federal and state government regulators on the impact that coal seam gas and large coal mining developments may have on water resources. This advice is provided to enable decisions to be informed by the best available science about the potential water-related impacts associated with these developments. To support this advice, the Australian Government Department of the Environment has implemented a programme of research termed 'bioregional assessments' to investigate these potential impacts. A bioregional assessment is defined as a scientific analysis of the ecology, hydrology, geology and hydrogeology of a bioregion with explicit assessment of the potential direct, indirect and cumulative impacts of coal seam gas and large coal mining development on water resources. These bioregional assessments are currently being carried out across large portions of eastern Australia underlain by coal reserves. Further details of the programme and results to date can be found at http://www.bioregionalassessments.gov.au. The bioregional assessment programme has modelled the impacts of coal seam gas development on surface and groundwater resources in three regions of eastern Australia, namely the Clarence-Moreton, Gloucester, and Namoi regions. This presentation will discuss the

  8. Methanogenic pathways of coal-bed gas in the Powder River Basin, United States: The geologic factor

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Flores, Romeo M.; Rice, Cynthia A.; Stricker, Gary D.; Warden, Augusta; Ellis, Margaret S. [U.S. Geological Survey, Box 25046, MS 939, Denver, Colorado 80225 (United States)

    2008-10-02

    Coal-bed gas of the Tertiary Fort Union and Wasatch Formations in the Powder River Basin in Wyoming and Montana, U.S. was interpreted as microbial in origin by previous studies based on limited data on the gas and water composition and isotopes associated with the coal beds. To fully evaluate the microbial origin of the gas and mechanisms of methane generation, additional data for 165 gas and water samples from 7 different coal-bed methane-bearing coal-bed reservoirs were collected basinwide and correlated to the coal geology and stratigraphy. The C{sub 1}/(C{sub 2} + C{sub 3}) ratio and vitrinite reflectance of coal and organic shale permitted differentiation between microbial gas and transitional thermogenic gas in the central part of the basin. Analyses of methane {delta}{sup 13}C and {delta}D, carbon dioxide {delta}{sup 13}C, and water {delta}D values indicate gas was generated primarily from microbial CO{sub 2} reduction, but with significant gas generated by microbial methyl-type fermentation (aceticlastic) in some areas of the basin. Microbial CO{sub 2} reduction occurs basinwide, but is generally dominant in Paleocene Fort Union Formation coals in the central part of the basin, whereas microbial methyl-type fermentation is common along the northwest and east margins. Isotopically light methane {delta}{sup 13}C is distributed along the basin margins where {delta}D is also depleted, indicating that both CO{sub 2}-reduction and methyl-type fermentation pathways played major roles in gas generation, but gas from the latter pathway overprinted gas from the former pathway. More specifically, along the northwest basin margin gas generation by methyl-type fermentation may have been stimulated by late-stage infiltration of groundwater recharge from clinker areas, which flowed through highly fractured and faulted coal aquifers. Also, groundwater recharge controlled a change in gas composition in the shallow Eocene Wasatch Formation with the increase of nitrogen and

  9. Coal resources of the eastern regions of Russia for power plants of the Asian super ring

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sokolov, Aleksander; Takaishvili, Liudmila

    2018-01-01

    The eastern regions of Russia have a substantial potential for expansion of steaming coal production. The majority of coal deposits in the eastern regions are located close enough to the objects of the Asian super ring. The large coal reserves make it possible to consider it as a reliable fuel source for power plants for a long-term horizon. The coal reserves suitable for using at power plants of the Asian super ring are estimated in the paper by subject of the federation of the eastern regions for operating and new coal producers. The coal deposits of the eastern regions that are promising for the construction of power plants of the Asian super ring are presented. The paper describes both the coal deposits of the eastern regions that are considered in the projects for power plant construction and included in the program documents and the coal deposits that are not included in the program documents. The coal reserves of these deposits and the possible volumes of its production are estimated. The key qualitative coal characteristics of the deposits: heating value, and ash, sulfur, moisture content are presented. The mining-geological and hydrological conditions for deposit development are briefly characterized. The coals of the eastern regions are showed to contain valuable accompanying elements. It is noted that the creation of industrial clusters on the basis of the coal deposits is the most effective from the standpoints of the economy and ecology. The favorable and restraining factors in development of the described coal deposits are estimated.

  10. A Paleocene penguin from New Zealand substantiates multiple origins of gigantism in fossil Sphenisciformes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mayr, Gerald; Scofield, R Paul; De Pietri, Vanesa L; Tennyson, Alan J D

    2017-12-12

    One of the notable features of penguin evolution is the occurrence of very large species in the early Cenozoic, whose body size greatly exceeded that of the largest extant penguins. Here we describe a new giant species from the late Paleocene of New Zealand that documents the very early evolution of large body size in penguins. Kumimanu biceae, n. gen. et sp. is larger than all other fossil penguins that have substantial skeletal portions preserved. Several plesiomorphic features place the new species outside a clade including all post-Paleocene giant penguins. It is phylogenetically separated from giant Eocene and Oligocene penguin species by various smaller taxa, which indicates multiple origins of giant size in penguin evolution. That a penguin rivaling the largest previously known species existed in the Paleocene suggests that gigantism in penguins arose shortly after these birds became flightless divers. Our study therefore strengthens previous suggestions that the absence of very large penguins today is likely due to the Oligo-Miocene radiation of marine mammals.

  11. Environmental impact of coal mining on the natural environment in Poland

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wysocka, M.; Chalupnik, S.; Michalik, B.; Skowronek, J.; Skubacz, K.

    2002-01-01

    Saline waters occurring in underground coal mines in Poland often contain natural radioactive isotopes, mainly 226 Ra from uranium series and 228 Ra from thorium series. Approximately 40% of total amount of radium remains underground in a form of radioactive deposits, but 225 MBq of 226 Ra and 400 MBq of 228 Ra are released daily to the rivers with mine effluents. Technical measures as spontaneous precipitation of radium in gobs, decreasing of amounts of water inflows into underground working etc. have been undertaken in several coal mines and as the result total amount of radium released to the surface waters diminished of about 60% during last 5-6 years. Mine waters can cause a severe impact on the natural environment, mainly due to its salinity. But also the enhancement of radium concentration in river waters, bottom sediments and vegetation is observed. Sometimes radium concentration in rivers exceeds 0.7 kBq/m 3 , which is due to Polish law a permissible level for waste waters. The extended investigations were performed in all coal mines and on this basis the radium balance in effluents has been calculated. Measurements done in the vicinity of mine water's settling ponds and in rivers gave us an opportunity to survey radium behaviour in river waters and the range of contamination. Solid waste materials with enhanced natural radioactivity have been produced in huge amounts in power and coal industries in Poland. There are two main sources of these waste products. As a result of combustion of coal in power plants low radioactive waste materials are produced, with 226 Ra concentration seldom exceeding few hundreds of Bq/kg. Different situation is observed in coal mines, where as a result of precipitation of radium from radium-bearing waters radioactive deposits are formed. Sometimes natural radioactivity of such materials is very high, in case of scaling from coal mines radium concentration may reach 400 000 Bq/kg - similar activity as for 3% uranium ore

  12. Investigation on characterization and liquefaction of coals from Tavan tolgoi deposit

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    B Purevsuren

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available On the basis of proximate, ultimate, petrographic and IR analysis results have been confirmed that the Tavan tolgoi coal is a high-rank G mark stone coal. The results of X-ray fluorescence analysis of coal ash show that the Tavan tolgoi coal is a subbituminous coal. The ash of Tavan tolgoi coal has an acidic character. The results of pyrolysis of Tavan tolgoi coal at different heating temperatures show that a maximum yield - 5.0% of liquid product can be obtained at 700°C. The results of thermal dissolution of Tavan tolgoi coal in tetralin with constant mass ratio between coal and tetralin (1:1.8 at 450°C show that 50.0% of liquid product can be obtained after thermal decomposition of the COM (coal organic matter. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5564/mjc.v14i0.191 Mongolian Journal of Chemistry 14 (40, 2013, p12-19

  13. The marriage of gas turbines and coal

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bajura, R.A.; Webb, H.A.

    1991-01-01

    This paper reports on developing gas turbine systems that can use coal or a coal-based fuel ensures that the United States will have cost-effective environmentally sound options for supplying future power generation needs. Power generation systems that marry coal or a coal-based fuel to a gas turbine? Some matchmakers would consider this an unlikely marriage. Historically, most gas turbines have been operated only on premium fuels, primarily natural gas or distillate oil. The perceived problems from using coal or coal-based fuels in turbines are: Erosion and deposition: Coal ash particles in the hot combustion gases passing through the expander turbine could erode or deposit on the turbine blades. Corrosion: Coal combustion will release alkali compounds form the coal ash. Alkali in the hot gases passing through the expander turbine can cause corrosion of high-temperature metallic surfaces. Emissions: coal contains higher levels of ash, fuel-bound sulfur and nitrogen compounds, and trace contaminants than premium fuels. Meeting stringent environmental regulations for particulates, sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ), nitrogen oxides (NO x ), and trace contaminants will be difficult. Economics: Coal-based systems are expensive to build. The difference in price between coal and premium fuels must be large enough to justify the higher capital cost

  14. Coal in sub-Saharan-African countries undergoing desertification

    Science.gov (United States)

    Weaver, J.N.; Brownfield, M.E.; Bergin, M.J.

    1990-01-01

    Coal has been reported in 11 of the 16 sub-Saharan countries discussed in this appraisal: Mauritania, Senegal, Mali, Niger, Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Sudan, Ethiopia, and Somalia. No coal occurrences have been reported in Gambia, Togo, Burkina, Chad, and Djibouti but coal may be present within these countries because neighboring countries do contain coal-bearing rocks. Most of these countries are undergoing desertification or will in the near future. Wood, directly or in the form of charcoal, constitutes two-thirds of the fuel used in Africa. Destruction of forest and shrub lands for fuel is occurring at an increasing rate because of desertification and increasing energy demands. The decline in biological productivity, coupled with concentration of population in areas where water is available and crops may be grown, leads to increasing shortages of wood for fuel. Part of the present and future energy needs of the sub-Saharan region could be met by use of indigenous coal and peat. Nine sedimentary basins, completely or partially within the sub-Saharan region, have the potential of either coal and/or peat deposits of economic value: 1- Senegal Basin, 2- Taoudeni Basin and Gao Trough, 3- Niger Basin, 4- Chad Basin, 5- Chari Basin, 6- Benue Trough (Depression), 7- Sudan Trough, 8- Plateau and Rift Belt, and 9- Somali Basin. Niger and Nigeria are the only countries in sub-Saharan Africa in which coal is presently being mined as a fuel source for powerplants and domestic use. Peat occurs in the deltas, lower river, and interdunal basin areas of Senegal, Mauritania, and Sudan. Peat can be used as an alternate fuel source and is currently being tested as a soil amendment in the agricultural sector. Coal and peat exploration and development studies are urgently required and should be initiated so the coal and peat utilization potential of each country can be determined. The overall objective of these studies is to establish, within the sub

  15. Coal Data: A reference

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1991-01-01

    The purpose of Coal Data: A Reference is to provide basic information on the mining and use of coal, an important source of energy in the United States. The report is written for a general audience. The goal is to cover basic material and strike a reasonable compromise between overly generalized statements and detailed analyses. The section ''Coal Terminology and Related Information'' provides additional information about terms mentioned in the text and introduces new terms. Topics covered are US coal deposits, resources and reserves, mining, production, employment and productivity, health and safety, preparation, transportation, supply and stocks, use, coal, the environment, and more. (VC)

  16. System principles and evaluation criteria of reliability for optimization of technological parameters of coal deposits

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A.О. Khorolskiy

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available The article deals with solving the scientific problem of select mining equipment for selection longwall faces of mining venture. The main goal of the paper is to study technology of coal extraction of mining venture. The paper proposes a new approach to solve a problem of mining equipment selection for longwall faces of mining venture. The article describes new method for selection of mining equipment based on theory graph. Special attention is given to technological aspects; they are lenght of longwall faces, depth of coal stratum. Predictions obtained for daily production of mining equipment are compared with design outputs. Conclusions regarding the main reason of instability of longwall faces workings are made. It is found that to be able to use standard algorithms find the shortest path between vertices, you must perform matrix description of the constructed graphs that illustrate the structure of the interaction of different types of control equipment. Using classical optimization of method of discrete mathematics and algorithms for finding the shortest path between two vertices of network models obtained from the formalization of graphs with maximum results of specific types of equipment production chains, solved the problem of rational choice cleaning equipment for the new site with the cost parameters of the mining equipment and cost of mining coal. The authors developed effective and appropriate variants for the mine development for different coal deposits of mining venture.

  17. Local deposition of mercury in topsoils around coal-fired power plants: is it always true?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rodriguez Martin, José Antonio; Nanos, Nikos; Grigoratos, Theodoros; Carbonell, Gregoria; Samara, Constantini

    2014-09-01

    Mercury (Hg) is a toxic element that is emitted to the atmosphere through human activities, mainly fossil fuel combustion. Hg accumulations in soil are associated with atmospheric deposition, while coal-burning power plants remain the most important source of anthropogenic mercury emissions. In this study, we analyzed the Hg concentration in the topsoil of the Kozani-Ptolemais basin where four coal-fired power plants (4,065 MW) run to provide 50 % of electricity in Greece. The study aimed to investigate the extent of soil contamination by Hg using geostatistical techniques to evaluate the presumed Hg enrichment around the four power plants. Hg variability in agricultural soils was evaluated using 276 soil samples from 92 locations covering an area of 1,000 km(2). We were surprised to find a low Hg content in soil (range 1-59 μg kg(-1)) and 50 % of samples with a concentration lower than 6 μg kg(-1). The influence of mercury emissions from the four coal-fired power plants on soil was poor or virtually nil. We associate this effect with low Hg contents in the coal (1.5-24.5 μg kg(-1)) used in the combustion of these power plants (one of the most Hg-poor in the world). Despite anthropic activity in the area, we conclude that Hg content in the agricultural soils of the Kozani-Ptolemais basin is present in low concentrations.

  18. Natural radionuclides in coal and waste material originating from coal fired power plant

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Marovic, Gordana; Franic, Zdenko; Sencar, Jasminka; Petrinec, Branko; Bituh, Tomislav; Kovac, Jadranka

    2008-01-01

    This paper presents long-term investigations of natural radioactivity in coal, used for power production in the coal-fired power plant (CFPP) situated on the Adriatic coast, and resulting slag and ash. Activity concentrations of 40 K, 232 Th, 226 Ra and 238 U in used coal and resulting waste material have been measured for 25 years. As expected, it was demonstrated that the content of radionuclides in deposited bottom and filter ash material are closely related with radionuclide activity concentrations and mineral matter fraction in used coals. The external hazard index has been calculated and discussed for the slag and ash depository. During the first decade of operation of the CFPP has been used domestic coal produced in nearby area characterized by higher background radiation compared with the rest of Croatia. Therefore, the coal itself had relatively high 226 Ra and 238 U activity concentrations while potassium and thorium content was very low, 40 K activity concentrations being 2-9% and those of 232 Th 1-3% of total activity. As, in addition, the sulphur concentrations in coal were very high use of domestic coal was gradually abandoned till it was completely substituted by imported coal originated from various sources and of low natural radioactivity. Upon this, activity concentrations of uranium series radionuclides in deposited waste materials decreased significantly. Consequently, waste material i.e., slag and ash, generated in the last several years of coal fired power plant operation could be readily used in cement industry and as additive to other building materials, without any special restrictions according to the Croatian regulations dealing with building materials and European directives. (author)

  19. Initiative hard coal; Initiative Steinkohle

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Leonhardt, J.

    2007-08-02

    In order to decrease the import dependence of hard coal in the European Union, the author has submitted suggestions to the director of conventional sources of energy (directorate general for energy and transport) of the European community, which found a positive resonance. These suggestions are summarized in an elaboration 'Initiative Hard Coal'. After clarifying the starting situation and defining the target the presupposition for a better use of hard coal deposits as raw material in the European Union are pointed out. On that basis concrete suggestions for measures are made. Apart from the conditions of the deposits it concerns thereby also new mining techniques and mining-economical developments, connected with tasks for the mining-machine industry. (orig.)

  20. Arsenic concentrations in Chinese coals

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang Mingshi; Zheng Baoshan; Wang Binbin; Li Shehong; Wu Daishe; Hu Jun

    2006-01-01

    The arsenic concentrations in 297 coal samples were collected from the main coal-mines of 26 provinces in China were determined by molybdenum blue coloration method. These samples were collected from coals that vary widely in coal rank and coal-forming periods from the five main coal-bearing regions in China. Arsenic content in Chinese coals range between 0.24 to 71 mg/kg. The mean of the concentration of Arsenic is 6.4 ± 0.5 mg/kg and the geometric mean is 4.0 ± 8.5 mg/kg. The level of arsenic in China is higher in northeastern and southern provinces, but lower in northwestern provinces. The relationship between arsenic content and coal-forming period, coal rank is studied. It was observed that the arsenic contents decreases with coal rank in the order: Tertiary > Early Jurassic > Late Triassic > Late Jurassic > Middle Jurassic > Late Permian > Early Carboniferous > Middle Carboniferous > Late Carboniferous > Early Permian; It was also noted that the arsenic contents decrease in the order: Subbituminous > Anthracite > Bituminous. However, compared with the geological characteristics of coal forming region, coal rank and coal-forming period have little effect on the concentration of arsenic in Chinese coal. The average arsenic concentration of Chinese coal is lower than that of the whole world. The health problems in China derived from in coal (arsenism) are due largely to poor local life-style practices in cooking and home heating with coal rather than to high arsenic contents in the coal

  1. Tritium in the underground waters of the Karazheera coal deposit

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Panin, M.S.; Artamonova, H.N.

    2001-01-01

    Full text: The Karazheera coal deposit is the unique geological object due to it's location on the Balapan site of the former Semipalatinsk nuclear polygon (SNP) with its wide range of underground nuclear tests fulfilled here (more than 130 explosions). That is why some radiological problems may appear with the geological ones which take place in the open mining work of the deposit. The radio-active pollution of SNP has been actively discussed in scientific literature for a long time. The present report evaluates the radio-active tritium pollution ( 3 H) of the deposit's underground waters. That very component of nature is subjected to radiation pollution in large extent after underground nuclear tests. 3 H radio-active isotope with 12-13 year period of half-decay. 3 H is generated in the result of nuclear reactions caused by cosmic radiation and nuclear reactions of explosions. The total number of 3 H on the globe comes to 12 kg. The content of 3 H has been studied in underground waters of self-pouring wells number 76, 82, springs and dipholes of the deposit. It has been fixed that concentration of 3 H in the deposit is fluctuating within 0.4-37.9 tritium units (TU) while the average content 10.3 TU (1 TU - 3.2x10 -12 Curie/liter). The analysis of 3 H decay shows that its maximum concenliaiion has been fixed in the deposit 82 (37.9 TU) and in diphole (32.3 TU). The background content of 3 H in water was evaluated on the level of 1-8 TU till 1945. In the result of nuclear weapon tests the background has been considerably increased and according to First data (1994) it is corresponded to 23 TU. The average content of the 3 H in underground waters of Karazheera is half the size of this index (10.3 TU). It comprises 3.3x10 -11 and it is more lower than quota 4x10 -6 Ci/l. It is considered that the content of more than 10 TU in waters is caused by thermal nuclear test. Precipitations fallen after 1961 are presented in subsoil waters containing of 20 TU or more

  2. Trace elements of coal, coal ashes and fly ashes by activation analysis with shor-lived nuclides

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Boeck, H.; Sarac, I.; Grass, F.

    1981-01-01

    On irradiation with neutrons, some of the interesting trace elements in coal, coal ash and fly ash produce short-lived nuclides which may be determined - together with some of the matrix elements - by activation analysis. This enables the characterization of samples. To find out the distribution of elements in the gaseous or aerosol exhaust of fossil-fired power plants, the authors simulated the combustion in a quartz apparatus containing a cold trap, using the combustion temperature (780 deg C) employed for the standard ash determination. High Se values were found in the cold trap deposits of black coal from Poland. Halogens were also found in the deposits. (authors)

  3. Geology and coal resources of the Hanging Woman Creek Study Area, Big Horn and Powder River Counties, Montana

    Science.gov (United States)

    Culbertson, William Craven; Hatch, Joseph R.; Affolter, Ronald H.

    1978-01-01

    In an area of 7,200 acres (29 sq km) In the Hanging Woman Creek study area, the Anderson coal bed contains potentially surface minable resources of 378 million short tons (343 million metric tons) of subbituminous C coal that ranges in thickness from 26 to 33 feet (7.9-10.1 m) at depths of less than 200 feet (60 m). Additional potentially surface minable resources of 55 million short tons (50 million metric tons) are contained in the 9-12 foot (2.7-3.7 m) thick Dietz coal bed which lies 50-100 feet (15-30 m) below the Anderson. Analyses of coal from 5 core holes indicates that the Anderson bed contains 0.4 percent sulfur, 5 percent ash, and has a heating value of 8,540 Btu/lb (4,750 Kcal/kg). The trace element content of the coal is generally similar to other coals in the Powder River Basin. The two coal beds are in the Fort Union Formation of Paleocene age which consists of sandstone, siltstone, shale, coal beds, and locally impure limestone. A northeast-trending normal fault through the middle of the area, downthrown on the southeast side, has displaced the generally flat lying strata as much as 300 feet (91 m). Most of the minable coal lies northwest of this fault.

  4. Concentration of gallium in the Permo-Carboniferous coals of China

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zhao, Cunliang; Qin, Shenjun; Yang, Yinchao; Li, Yanheng; Lin, Mingyue [Hebei University of Engineering, Handan (China)

    2009-10-15

    Gallium is widely used in electronic industry and its current price is about 500 US dollars per kilogram. It has been found that its contents are very high in Permo-Carboniferous coal of China. In order to look for valuable associated gallium deposits in coal, gallium contents of 177 coal samples were determined by using inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) and the data of 873 coal samples from Chinese Permo-Carboniferous coalfields were collected. The results show that the average gallium concentration of Chinese Permo-Carboniferous coals is 15.49{mu}g{center_dot}g{sup -1}. There are two concentration types of gallium in Chinese Permo-Carboniferous coals: one type is that gallium has enriched to an ore deposit, and another type is that gallium is locally enriched in coal seams, but has not formed a valuable associated gallium ore deposit. The gallium concentration in Chinese Permo-Carboniferous coal may have several different sources: concentration in sedimentation stage, magmatic hydrothermal inputs and low-temperature hydrothermal fluids.

  5. Sensitivity of depositions to the size and hygroscopicity of Cs-bearing aerosols released by the Fukushima Nuclear Accident

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kajino, Mizuo [Meteorological Research Institute, 1-1 Nagamine, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0052 (Japan); RIKEN Advanced Institute for Computational Science, 7-1-26 Minatojima-minamimachi, Chuo-ku, Kobe, Hyogo 650-0047 (Japan); Adachi, Kouji; Sekiyama, Tsuyoshi T.; Zaizen, Yuji; Igarashi, Yasuhito [Meteorological Research Institute, 1-1 Nagamine, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-0052 (Japan)

    2014-07-01

    We recently revealed that the micro-physical properties of aerosols carrying the radioactive Cs released from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) at an early stage (March 14-15, 2011) of the accident could be very different from what we assumed previously: super-micron and non-hygroscopic at the early stage, whereas sub-micron and hygroscopic afterwards (at least later than March 20-22). In the study, two sensitivity simulations with the two different aerosol micro-physical properties were conducted using a regional scale meteorology- chemical transport model (NHM-Chem). The impact of the difference was quite significant. 17% (10-3%) of the radioactive Cs fell onto the ground by dry (wet) deposition processes, and the rest was deposited into the ocean or was transported out of the model domain, which is central and northern part of the main land of Japan under the assumption that Cs-bearing aerosols are non-hygroscopic and super-micron. On the other hand, 5.7% (11.3%) fell onto the ground by dry (wet) deposition, for the cases under the assumption that the Cs-bearing aerosols are hygroscopic and sub-micron. For the accurate simulation of the deposition of radionuclides, knowledge of the aerosol micro-physical properties is essential as well as the accuracy of the simulated wind fields and precipitation patterns. (authors)

  6. The determination of methane resources from liquidated coal mines

    Science.gov (United States)

    Trenczek, Stanisław

    2017-11-01

    The article refers to methane presented in hard coal seams, which may pose a serious risk to workers, as evidenced by examples of incidents, and may also be a high energy source. That second issue concerns the possibility of obtaining methane from liquidated coal mines. There is discussed the current methodology for determination of methane resources from hard coal deposits. Methods of assessing methane emissions from hard coal deposits are given, including the degree of rock mass fracture, which is affected and not affected by mining. Additional criteria for methane recovery from the methane deposit are discussed by one example (of many types) of methane power generation equipment in the context of the estimation of potential viable resources. Finally, the concept of “methane resource exploitation from coal mine” refers to the potential for exploitation of the resource and the acquisition of methane for business purposes.

  7. The Paleocene Eocene carbon isotope excursion in higher plant organic matter: Differential fractionation of angiosperms and conifers in the Arctic

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schouten, Stefan; Woltering, Martijn; Rijpstra, W. Irene C.; Sluijs, Appy; Brinkhuis, Henk; Sinninghe Damsté, Jaap S.

    2007-06-01

    A study of upper Paleocene-lower Eocene (P-E) sediments deposited on the Lomonosov Ridge in the central Arctic Ocean reveals relatively high abundances of terrestrial biomarkers. These include dehydroabietane and simonellite derived from conifers (gymnosperms) and a tetra-aromatic triterpenoid derived from angiosperms. The relative percentage of the angiosperm biomarker of the summed angiosperm + conifer biomarkers was increased at the end of the Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum (PETM), different when observed with pollen counts which showed a relative decrease in angiosperm pollen. Stable carbon isotopic analysis of these biomarkers shows that the negative carbon isotope excursion (CIE) during the PETM amounts to 3‰ for both conifer biomarkers, dehydroabietane and simonellite, comparable to the magnitude of the CIE inferred from marine carbonates, but significantly lower than the 4.5‰ of the terrestrial C 29n-alkane [M. Pagani, N. Pedentchouk, M. Huber, A. Sluijs, S. Schouten, H. Brinkhuis, J.S. Sinninghe Damsté, G.R. Dickens, and the IODP Expedition 302 Expedition Scientists (2006), Arctic's hydrology during global warming at the Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum. Nature, 442, 671-675.], which is a compound sourced by both conifers and angiosperms. Conspicuously, the angiosperm-sourced aromatic triterpane shows a much larger CIE of 6‰ and suggests that angiosperms increased in their carbon isotopic fractionation during the PETM. Our results thus indicate that the 4.5‰ C 29n-alkane CIE reported previously represents the average CIE of conifers and angiosperms at this site and suggest that the large and variable CIE observed in terrestrial records may be partly explained by the variable contributions of conifers and angiosperms. The differential response in isotopic fractionation of angiosperms and conifers points to different physiological responses of these vegetation types to the rise in temperature, humidity, and greenhouse gases during the PETM.

  8. A new record of the Paleocene Carbon Isotope Maximum from the Mississippi Embayment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Platt, B. F.; Gerweck, E. D.

    2017-12-01

    The Paleocene-Eocene interval is well known as a time of climatic transitions, especially hyperthermals associated with disturbances in the carbon cycle that are used as proxies for impacts of projected anthropogenic global climate change. A recent roadcut in Benton County, Mississippi exposes a disconformity between the Paleocene Naheola Formation and the Eocene Meridian Sand. The disconformity is developed on a thick, kaolinitic paleosol, which we interpret as a mature Oxisol that supported tropical rainforest vegetation (as evidenced by associated well preserved leaf fossils). The nature of the paleosol at the disconformity led us to hypothesize that the strata might contain evidence of the Paleocene Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM). We sampled two Mississippi Mineral Resources Institute (MMRI) cores from the equivalent stratigraphic interval from Benton and Tippah Counties, Mississippi, for bulk organic carbon stable isotopes at 25-cm intervals. Results showed no evidence of the negative excursion characteristic of the PETM. Instead, we found a gradual upsection enrichment that we interpret as the positive trend characteristic of the lower Paleocene Carbon Isotope Maximum (PCIM). This is reasonable based on published biostratigraphy and absolute ages from elsewhere in the Naheola Formation. Further analyses will be performed to determine whether the PCIM trend continues throughout the remainder of the core. The identification of the PCIM in Mississippi Embayment (ME) sediments is important because stable carbon isotope data may be useful for improving chronostratigraphy in the ME. Also, the PCIM is associated with a gradual warming trend as indicated by previously published stable oxygen isotopes from benthic foraminifera. Studying successive ME paleosols throughout the PCIM may yield information about the impacts of gradual atmospheric warming on soils and associated terrestrial systems.

  9. Nannobiostrat1graphy Of The Late Cretaceous Paleocene Succession In Esh El-Mallaha Range, Eastern Desert, Egypt

    OpenAIRE

    El Dawoddy, Ahmed Sami [احمد سامي الداودي

    1990-01-01

    This paper emphasis the biostratigraphic significance of thirty nannofossil species recorded from the Maestrichtian - Paleocene succession in Esh El-Mellaha Range, Eastern Desert, Egypt. These species participated in making up three nannobiostratigraphic zones, arranged from top to base as follows: 3. Discoaster multiradiatus Zone (Late Paleocene) 2. Lithraphidites quadratus Zone (Maestrichtian) 1. Arkhangelskiella cymbitormis Zone (Maestrichtian) In comparison with the planktonic foram...

  10. Silver-bearing minerals in the Xinhua hydrothermal vein-type Pb-Zn deposit, South China

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Minfang; Zhang, Xubo; Guo, Xiaonan; Pi, Daohui; Yang, Meijun

    2018-02-01

    Electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) results are reported for newly identified silver-bearing minerals from the Xinhua deposit, Yunkaidashan area, South China. The Xinhua deposit is a hydrothermal vein-type Pb-Zn deposit and is hosted in the Pubei Complex, which consists of a cordierite-biotite granite with a U-Pb zircon age of 244.3 ± 1.8-251.9 ± 2.2 Ma. The mineralization process is subdivided into four mineralization stages, characterized by the following mineral associations: mineralization stage I with quartz, pyrite, and sphalerite; mineralization stage II with siderite, galena, and tetrahedrite; mineralization stage III with quartz and galena; and mineralization stage IV with quartz, calcite, and baryte. Tetrahedrite series minerals, such as freibergite, argentotetrahedrite, and tennantite are the main Ag-bearing minerals in the Xinhua deposit. The greatest concentration of silver occurs in phases from mineralization stage II. Microscopic observations reveal close relationship between galena and tetrahedrite series minerals that mostly occur as irregular inclusions within galena. The negative correlation between Cu and Ag in the lattices of tetrahedrite series minerals suggests that Cu sites are occupied by Ag atoms. Zn substitution for Fe in argentotetrahedrite and Cd substitution for Pb in tetrahedrite are also observed. Micro-thermometric data reveal that both homogenization temperatures and calculated salinities of hydrothermal fluids decrease progressively from the early to the later mineralization stages. The metal ions, such as Ag+, Cu+, Pb2+, and Zn2+, are transported as chlorine complex ions in the early mineralization stage and as bisulfide complex ions in the late mineralization stage, caused by changes in oxygen fugacity, temperature, and pH of the hydrothermal fluids. Because of the varying solubility of different metal ions, Pb2+, Zn2+, and Cu2+ ions are initially precipitated as galena, sphalerite, and chalcopyrite, respectively. With

  11. Lake-sediment record of PAH, mercury, and fly-ash particle deposition near coal-fired power plants in Central Alberta, Canada.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barst, Benjamin D; Ahad, Jason M E; Rose, Neil L; Jautzy, Josué J; Drevnick, Paul E; Gammon, Paul R; Sanei, Hamed; Savard, Martine M

    2017-12-01

    We report a historical record of atmospheric deposition in dated sediment cores from Hasse Lake, ideally located near both currently and previously operational coal-fired power plants in Central Alberta, Canada. Accumulation rates of spheroidal carbonaceous particles (SCPs), an unambiguous marker of high-temperature fossil-fuel combustion, in the early part of the sediment record (pre-1955) compared well with historical emissions from one of North America's earliest coal-fired power plants (Rossdale) located ∼43 km to the east in the city of Edmonton. Accumulation rates in the latter part of the record (post-1955) suggested inputs from the Wabamun region's plants situated ∼17-25 km to the west. Increasing accumulation rates of SCPs, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and Hg coincided with the previously documented period of peak pollution in the Wabamun region during the late 1960s to early 1970s, although Hg deposition trends were also similar to those found in western North American lakes not directly affected by point sources. A noticeable reduction in contaminant inputs during the 1970s is attributed in part to technological improvements and stricter emission controls. The over one hundred-year historical record of coal-fired power plant emissions documented in Hasse Lake sediments has provided insight into the impact that both environmental regulations and changes in electricity output have had over time. This information is crucial to assessing the current and future role of coal in the world's energy supply. Crown Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. Regional trend of coal metamorphism in the major Gondwana basins of India

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mukherjee, A K; Alam, M M; Bunerjee, B

    1983-04-01

    The coal-bearing Gondwana sedimentaries are of great economic importance as they possess over 98% of coal resources of India. Within the Gondwana supergroup coal-bearing formations are confined in the Lower Gondwana sequence (Damuda group). The development of coal seams in the different basins were genetically related to the evolutionary pattern of each basin. The imprint of such diverse tectono-geomorphic conditions prevailing over the vast Peninsular Shield, and their regional impact in individual basins are well preserved in the different lithofacies of this thick-pile of sedimentary sequence. In fact constituting coal facies served as a sensitive recorder of the past episode enacted for long geological time span in each basin of the Gondwana grabens. In the present paper an attempt is made to incorporate the salient features of the operative processes in the major Gondwana basins with special reference to coal metamorphism. This has been done considering mass of analytical and sub-surface data available from the physico-chemical survey of coal seams of major coalfields, and extensive drilling operations carried out over the vast virgin tracts of important coalfields.

  13. Shedding of ash deposits

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Zbogar, Ana; Frandsen, Flemming; Jensen, Peter Arendt

    2009-01-01

    Ash deposits formed during fuel thermal conversion and located on furnace walls and on convective pass tubes, may seriously inhibit the transfer of heat to the working fluid and hence reduce the overall process efficiency. Combustion of biomass causes formation of large quantities of troublesome...... ash deposits which contain significant concentrations of alkali, and earth-alkali metals. The specific composition of biomass deposits give different characteristics as compared to coal ash deposits, i.e. different physical significance of the deposition mechanisms, lower melting temperatures, etc....... Low melting temperatures make straw ashes especially troublesome, since their stickiness is higher at lower temperatures, compared to coal ashes. Increased stickiness will eventually lead to a higher collection efficiency of incoming ash particles, meaning that the deposit may grow even faster...

  14. Effects of historical coal mining and drainage from abandoned mines on streamflow and water quality in Bear Creek, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania-March 1999-December 2002

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chaplin, Jeffrey J.

    2005-01-01

    More than 100 years of anthracite coal mining has changed surface- and ground-water hydrology and contaminated streams draining the Southern Anthracite Coal Field in east-central Pennsylvania. Bear Creek drains the western prong of the Southern Anthracite Coal Field and is affected by metals in drainage from abandoned mines and streamwater losses. Total Maximum Daily Loads (TMDL) developed for dissolved iron of about 5 lb/d (pounds per day) commonly are exceeded in the reach downstream of mine discharges. Restoration of Bear Creek using aerobic ponds to passively remove iron in abandoned mine drainage is under consideration (2004) by the Dauphin County Conservation District. This report, prepared in cooperation with the Dauphin County Conservation District, evaluates chemical and hydrologic data collected in Bear Creek and its receiving waters prior to implementation of mine-drainage treatment. The data collected represent the type of baseline information needed for documentation of water-quality changes following passive treatment of mine drainage in Pennsylvania and in other similar hydrogeologic settings. Seven surface-water sites on Bear Creek and two mine discharges were monitored for nearly three years to characterize the chemistry and hydrology of the following: (1) Bear Creek upstream of the mine discharges (BC-UMD), (2) water draining from the Lykens-Williamstown Mine Pool at the Lykens Water-Level Tunnel (LWLT) and Lykens Drift (LD) discharges, (3) Bear Creek after mixing with the mine discharges (BC-DMD), and (4) Bear Creek prior to mixing with Wiconisco Creek (BCM). Two sites on Wiconisco Creek, upstream and downstream of Bear Creek (WC-UBC and WC-DBC, respectively), were selected to evaluate changes in streamflow and water quality upon mixing with Bear Creek. During periods of below-normal precipitation, streamwater loss was commonly 100 percent upstream of site BC-UMD (streamflow range = 0 to 9.7 ft3/s (cubic feet per second)) but no loss was detected

  15. Evidence of orbital forcing in lake-level fluctuations in the Middle Eocene oil shale-bearing lacustrine successions in the Mudurnu-Göynük Basin, NW Anatolia (Turkey)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ocakoğlu, F.; Açıkalın, S.; Yılmaz, İ. Ö.; Şafak, Ü.; Gökçeoğlu, C.

    2012-08-01

    Mudurnu-Göynük basin of the Sakarya Zone in NW Anatolia comprises ca. 1500 m thick Paleocene-Eocene terrestrial to shallow marine succession overlying the Late Cretaceous deeper marine progradational fore-arc sediments. Formed in a foreland setting in relation to southerly situated İzmir-Ankara suture zone, this terrestrial succession (regionally known as Kızılçay group) comprises a thin (nalysis on three correlative measured sections showed that mudstone, oil shale and thinner limestone alternations characterize the relatively deeper part of the Eocene lake with probable marine intervention, while thicker limestone, coal, marl and occasional oil shale alternations typify the southern relatively freshwater shoal areas. These facies are frequently organized as meter-scale symmetric to asymmetric transgressive-regressive cycles. Spectral analysis of the mudstone beds and the cycles within the lacustrine succession strongly indicates the occurrence of full bands of Milankovitch with the shortest precession cycle (19 ka) at ca. 2.30 m. Our observations further revealed quite rhythmic thin couplets with estimated durations of 365-730 yr that might represent abrupt climatic changes during deposition. On the other hand, longer duration (ca. 1 Ma) of shoaling and deepening trends in the studied sections were attributed basically to varying subsidence due to tectonic loading in the southerly suture zone. Lastly, regarding the distribution of depositional environments we propose that the oil shale exploration activities should be carried out within a 20 km wide E-W running belt while the southern limits of this belt is more prolific for coal resources.

  16. Washability of Australian coals

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Whitmore, R L

    1979-06-01

    Australian coals tend to be young in geological age and high in ash by world standards; preparation of the coal before marketing is almost universal. On the basis of float and sink data from 39 locations in the eastern Australian coalfields, the coals are place in four categories representing increasing difficulty in their washability characteristics. These seem to be related neither to the geological age nor the geographical position of the deposit and Hunter Valley coals, for example, span all categories. The influence of crushing on the washability of Australian coals is briefly considered and from limited data it is concluded to be appreciably smaller than for British or North American coals. A strategy for the float and sink analysis of Australian coals is proposed and the influence of washability characteristics on current trends in the selection of separating processes for coking and steaming products is discussed.

  17. Petrographic characterization of the solid products of coal- pitch coprocessing

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Potter, J.; Kybett, B.D.; McDougall, W.J.; Nambudiri, E.M.V.; Rahimi, P.; Price, J.T.

    1986-06-01

    Petrographic studies were conducted on four solid residues resulting from the hydrogenation process of 1) Forestburg sub- bituminous coal alone, 2) the coal with a non-coking solvent (anthracene oil), 3) pitch (Cold Lake vacuum-bottom deposits), and 4) a mixture of coal and pitch. The purpose was to determine the amounts of coal and pitch-derived solids in the residues. All the residues were produced under identical severe conditions of liquefaction to promote the formation of solids. The coal processed with anthracene oil gives a residue consisting mainly of isotropic huminitic solids. If the coal is hydrogenated under similar conditions but without a solvent, the predominant residual solids are anisotropic semicokes displaying coarse mosaic textures, which form from vitroplast. The residual products from the hydrogenated Cold Lake vacuum- bottom deposits are also dominantly anisotropic semicokes; these display coarse mosaics and flow textures, and form by the growth and coalescence of mesophase spherules. Both coal- and pitch-derived solids are identified in a residue produced by coprocessing the Forestburg coal with the pitch from the Cold Lake vacuum-bottom deposits. It is concluded that the huminite macerals in the coal generate the fine-grained, mosaic-textured semicokes, whereas the pitch produces the coarse mosaics and flow-textured semicokes.

  18. Hydrochemical processes in a shallow coal seam gas aquifer and its overlying stream–alluvial system: implications for recharge and inter-aquifer connectivity

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Duvert, Clément; Raiber, Matthias; Owen, Daniel D.R.; Cendón, Dioni I.; Batiot-Guilhe, Christelle; Cox, Malcolm E.

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • Major ions and isotopes used to study inter-aquifer mixing in a shallow CSG setting. • Considerable heterogeneity in the water composition of the coal-bearing aquifer. • Rapid recharge of the coal-bearing aquifer through highly fractured igneous rocks. • Potential mixing between the coal-bearing aquifer and downstream alluvial aquifer. • Need to consider the seasonal influences on inter-aquifer mixing in CSG settings. - Abstract: In areas of potential coal seam gas (CSG) development, understanding interactions between coal-bearing strata and adjacent aquifers and streams is of highest importance, particularly where CSG formations occur at shallow depth. This study tests a combination of hydrochemical and isotopic tracers to investigate the transient nature of hydrochemical processes, inter-aquifer mixing and recharge in a catchment where the coal-bearing aquifer is in direct contact with the alluvial aquifer and surface drainage network. A strong connection was observed between the main stream and underlying alluvium, marked by a similar evolution from fresh Ca–Mg–HCO 3 waters in the headwaters towards brackish Ca–Na–Cl composition near the outlet of the catchment, driven by evaporation and transpiration. In the coal-bearing aquifer, by contrast, considerable site-to-site variations were observed, although waters generally had a Na–HCO 3 –Cl facies and high residual alkalinity values. Increased salinity was controlled by several coexisting processes, including transpiration by plants, mineral weathering and possibly degradation of coal organic matter. Longer residence times and relatively enriched carbon isotopic signatures of the downstream alluvial waters were suggestive of potential interactions with the shallow coal-bearing aquifer. The examination of temporal variations in deuterium excess enabled detection of rapid recharge of the coal-bearing aquifer through highly fractured igneous rocks, particularly at the catchment

  19. A new approach to precious metals recovery from brown coals: Correlation of recovery efficacy with the mechanism of metal-humic interactions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bratskaya, Svetlana Yu.; Volk, Alexandra S.; Ivanov, Vladimir V.; Ustinov, Alexander Yu.; Barinov, Nikolay N.; Avramenko, Valentin A.

    2009-06-01

    The presence of gold and platinum group elements (PGE) in low-rank brown coals around the world has promoted interest in the industrial exploitation of this alternative source of precious metals. However, due to low efficacy of the methods traditionally used for the processing of mineral ores, there exists a high demand for new strategies of precious metal recovery from refractory carbonaceous materials that could significantly increase the economic potential of gold- and PGE-bearing organic resources. Here we discuss the possibility of gold and PGE recovery from alkaline extracts of brown coals using the difference in colloidal stability of bulk organic matter and its fractions enriched with precious metals. This approach enables one to avoid complete oxidation or combustion of brown coals prior to gold recovery, to minimize organic content in gold concentrate, and to obtain a valuable by-product - humic extracts. Using gold-bearing brown coals from several deposits located in the South Far East of Russia, we show that up to 95% of gold can be transferred to alkaline extracts of humic acids (HA) and up to 85% of this gold can be recovered by centrifugation at pH 4.0-6.0, when only 5-15% of HA precipitated simultaneously. We have shown that the high efficacy of gold recovery can be attributed to the occurrence of fine-dispersed elemental gold particles stabilized by HA, which differ significantly in colloidal stability from the bulk organic matter and, thus, can be separated by centrifugation.

  20. Behaviour of radium isotopes released with brines and sediments from coal mines in Poland

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wysocka, M.; Chalupnik, S.; Mielnikow, A.; Lebecka, J.; Skubacz, K.

    1998-01-01

    Saline waters occurring in underground coal mines in Poland often contain natural radioactive isotopes, mainly 226 Ra from uranium series and 228 Ra from thorium series. Approximately 40% of total amount of radium remains underground in a form of radioactive deposits, but 225 MBq of 226 Ra and 380 MBq of 228 Ra are released daily to the rivers with mine effluents. Technical measures as spontaneous precipitation of radium in gobs, decreasing of amounts of water inflowing into underground working etc. have been undertaken in several coal mines and in the result total amount of radium released to the surface waters diminished by about 60% during last 5-6 years. Mine waters can cause a severe impact on the natural environment. The enhancement of radium concentration in river waters, bottom sediments and vegetation is observed. Sometimes radium concentration in rivers exceeds 0.7 kBq/m 3 , which is due to Polish law a permissible level for liquid radioactive waste. It was necessary to undertake investigations for development the methods of the purification of mine waters from radium. The radium balance in effluents has been calculated and a map of radioactive contamination of river waters have been prepared. Solid wastes with enhanced natural radioactivity have been produced in huge amounts in energy and coal industries in Poland. There are two main sources of these waste products. As a result of combustion of coal in power plants low radioactive waste materials are produced, with 226 Ra concentration seldom exceeding few hundreds of Bq/kg. Different situation is be observed in coal mines, where as a result of precipitation of radium from radium-bearing waters radioactive deposits are formed. Sometimes natural radioactivity of such materials is very high, in case of scaling from coal mines radium concentration may reach 4x10 5 Bq/kg - similar activity as for 3% uranium ore. Therefore maintenance of solid waste with technologically enhanced natural radioactivity (TENR

  1. Organic geochemistry and petrology of subsurface Paleocene-Eocene Wilcox and Claiborne Group coal beds, Zavala County, Maverick Basin, Texas, USA

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hackley, Paul C.; Warwick, Peter D.; Hook, Robert W.; Alimi, Hossein; Mastalerz, Maria; Swanson, Sharon M.

    2012-01-01

    Coal samples from a coalbed methane exploration well in northern Zavala County, Maverick Basin, Texas, were characterized through an integrated analytical program. The well was drilled in February, 2006 and shut in after coal core desorption indicated negligible gas content. Cuttings samples from two levels in the Eocene Claiborne Group were evaluated by way of petrographic techniques and Rock–Eval pyrolysis. Core samples from the Paleocene–Eocene Indio Formation (Wilcox Group) were characterized via proximate–ultimate analysis in addition to petrography and pyrolysis. Two Indio Formation coal samples were selected for detailed evaluation via gas chromatography, and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) and 13C CPMAS NMR spectroscopy. Samples are subbituminous rank as determined from multiple thermal maturity parameters. Elevated rank (relative to similar age coal beds elsewhere in the Gulf Coast Basin) in the study area is interpreted to be a result of stratigraphic and/or structural thickening related to Laramide compression and construction of the Sierra Madre Oriental to the southwest. Vitrinite reflectance data, along with extant data, suggest the presence of an erosional unconformity or change in regional heat flow between the Cretaceous and Tertiary sections and erosion of up to >5 km over the Cretaceous. The presence of liptinite-rich coals in the Claiborne at the well site may indicate moderately persistent or recurring coal-forming paleoenvironments, interpreted as perennially submerged peat in shallow ephemeral lakes with herbaceous and/or flotant vegetation. However, significant continuity of individual Eocene coal beds in the subsurface is not suggested. Indio Formation coal samples contain abundant telovitrinite interpreted to be preserved from arborescent, above-ground woody vegetation that developed during the middle portion of mire development in forested swamps. Other petrographic criteria suggest enhanced biological, chemical and physical

  2. Carbothermic reduction behaviors of Ti-Nb-bearing Fe concentrate from Bayan Obo ore in China

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Guang; Du, Ya-xing; Wang, Jing-song; Xue, Qing-guo

    2018-01-01

    To support the development of technology to utilize low-grade Ti-Nb-bearing Fe concentrate, the reduction of the concentrate by coal was systematically investigated in the present paper. A liquid phase formed when the Ti-Nb-bearing Fe concentrate/coal composite pellet was reduced at temperatures greater than 1100°C. The addition of CaCO3 improved the reduction rate when the slag basicity was less than 1.0 and inhibited the formation of the liquid phase. Mechanical milling obviously increased the metallization degree compared with that of the standard pellet when reduced under the same conditions. Evolution of the mineral phase composition and microstructure of the reduced Ti-Nb-bearing Fe concentrate/coal composite pellet at 1100°C were analyzed by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy-energy-dispersive spectroscopy. The volume shrinkage value of the reduced Ti-Nb-bearing Fe concentrate/coal composite pellet with a basicity of 1.0 was approximately 35.2% when the pellet was reduced at 1100°C for 20 min, which enhanced the external heat transfer to the lower layers when reduced in a practical rotary hearth furnace. The present work provides key parameters and mechanism understanding for the development of carbothermic reduction technology of a Ti-Nb-bearing Fe concentrate incorporated in a pyrometallurgical utilization flow sheet.

  3. Use of coal-oil agglomerates for particulate gold recovery

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Calvez, J.P.S.; Kim, M.J.; Wong, P.L.M.; Tran, T. [University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW (Australia). School of Chemical Engineering and Industrial Chemistry

    1998-09-01

    The underlying principles by which gold is recovered by coal-oil agglomerates was investigated. The effects of various parameters such as oil:coal ratios, agglomerate:ore ratios, pH and coal particle size on gold recovery were evaluated using synthetic gold bearing samples, bituminous coal, and diesel oil and kerosene. The effects of sulfides on gold recovery and the depth of gold particle penetration within the agglomerates were also investigated. Results showed that gold recovery was increased by increasing agglomerate:ore ratio, decreasing oil:coal ratio and decreasing coal particle size. There was no significant difference in gold recoveries at pH range of 4-12 and at up to 5% sulfides in the feed.

  4. Late Quaternary sedimentary features of Bear Lake, Utah and Idaho

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smoot, J.P.

    2009-01-01

    Bear Lake sediments were predominantly aragonite for most of the Holocene, reflecting a hydrologically closed lake fed by groundwater and small streams. During the late Pleistocene, the Bear River flowed into Bear Lake and the lake waters spilled back into the Bear River drainage. At that time, sediment deposition was dominated by siliciclastic sediment and calcite. Lake-level fluctuation during the Holocene and late Pleistocene produced three types of aragonite deposits in the central lake area that are differentiated primarily by grain size, sorting, and diatom assemblage. Lake-margin deposits during this period consisted of sandy deposits including well-developed shoreface deposits on margins adjacent to relatively steep gradient lake floors and thin, graded shell gravel on margins adjacent to very low gradient lake-floor areas. Throughout the period of aragonite deposition, episodic drops in lake level resulted in erosion of shallow-water deposits, which were redeposited into the deeper lake. These sediment-focusing episodes are recognized by mixing of different mineralogies and crystal habits and mixing of a range of diatom fauna into poorly sorted mud layers. Lake-level drops are also indicated by erosional gaps in the shallow-water records and the occurrence of shoreline deposits in areas now covered by as much as 30 m of water. Calcite precipitation occurred for a short interval of time during the Holocene in response to an influx of Bear River water ca. 8 ka. The Pleistocene sedimentary record of Bear Lake until ca. 18 ka is dominated by siliciclastic glacial fl our derived from glaciers in the Uinta Mountains. The Bear Lake deep-water siliciclastic deposits are thoroughly bioturbated, whereas shallow-water deposits transitional to deltas in the northern part of the basin are upward-coarsening sequences of laminated mud, silt, and sand. A major drop in lake level occurred ca. 18 ka, resulting in subaerial exposure of the lake floor in areas now covered by

  5. Mechanistic insights into a hydrate contribution to the Paleocene-Eocene carbon cycle perturbation from coupled thermohydraulic simulations

    Science.gov (United States)

    Minshull, T. A.; Marín-Moreno, H.; Armstrong McKay, D. I.; Wilson, P. A.

    2016-08-01

    During the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), the carbon isotopic signature (δ13C) of surface carbon-bearing phases decreased abruptly by at least 2.5 to 3.0‰. This carbon isotope excursion (CIE) has been attributed to widespread methane hydrate dissociation in response to rapid ocean warming. We ran a thermohydraulic modeling code to simulate hydrate dissociation due to ocean warming for various PETM scenarios. Our results show that hydrate dissociation in response to such warming can be rapid but suggest that methane release to the ocean is modest and delayed by hundreds to thousands of years after the onset of dissociation, limiting the potential for positive feedback from emission-induced warming. In all of our simulations at least half of the dissociated hydrate methane remains beneath the seabed, suggesting that the pre-PETM hydrate inventory needed to account for all of the CIE is at least double that required for isotopic mass balance.

  6. The coal deposits of the Alkali Butte, the Big Sand Draw, and the Beaver Creek fields, Fremont County, Wyoming

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thompson, Raymond M.; White, Vincent L.

    1952-01-01

    Large coal reserves are present in three areas located between 12 and 20 miles southeast of Riverton, Fremont County, central Wyoming. Coal in two of these areas, the Alkali Butte coal field and the Big Sand Draw coal field, is exposed on the surface and has been developed to some extent by underground mining. The Beaver Creek coal field is known only from drill cuttings and cores from wells drilled for oil and gas in the Beaver Creek oil and gas field.These three coal areas can be reached most readily from Riverton, Wyo. State Route 320 crosses Wind River about 1 mile south of Riverton. A few hundred yards south of the river a graveled road branches off the highway and extends south across the Popo Agie River toward Sand Draw oil and gas field. About 8 miles south of the highway along the Sand Draw road, a dirt road bears east and along this road it is about 12 miles to the Bell coal mine in the Alkali Butte coal field. Three miles southeast of the Alkali Butte turn-off, 3 miles of oiled road extends southwest into the Beaver Creek oil and gas field. About 6 miles southeast of the Beaver Creek turn-off, in the valley of Little Sand Draw Creek, a dirt road extends east 1. mile and then southeast 1 mile to the Downey mine in the Big Sand Draw coal field. Location of these coal fields is shown on figure 1 with their relationship to the Wind River basin and other coal fields, place localities, and wells mentioned in this report. The coal in the Alkali Butte coal field is exposed partly on the Wind River Indian Reservation in Tps. 1 and 2 S., R. 6 E., and partly on public land. Coal in the Beaver Creek and Big Sand Draw coal fields is mainly on public land. The region has a semiarid climate with rainfall averaging less than 10 in. per year. When rain does fall the sandy-bottomed stream channels fill rapidly and are frequently impassable for a few hours. Beaver Creek, Big Sand Draw, Little Sand Draw, and Kirby Draw and their smaller tributaries drain the area and flow

  7. Rosebud SynCoal Partnership, SynCoal{reg_sign} demonstration technology update

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sheldon, R.W. [Rosebud SynCoal Partnership, Billings, MT (United States)

    1997-12-31

    An Advanced Coal Conversion Process (ACCP) technology being demonstrated in eastern Montana (USA) at the heart of one of the world`s largest coal deposits is providing evidence that the molecular structure of low-rank coals can be altered successfully to produce a unique product for a variety of utility and industrial applications. The product is called SynCoal{reg_sign} and the process has been developed by the Rosebud SynCoal Partnership (RSCP) through the US Department of Energy`s multi-million dollar Clean Coal Technology Program. The ACCP demonstration process uses low-pressure, superheated gases to process coal in vibrating fluidized beds. Two vibratory fluidized processing stages are used to heat and convert the coal. This is followed by a water spray quench and a vibratory fluidized stage to cool the coal. Pneumatic separators remove the solid impurities from the dried coal. There are three major steps to the SynCoal{reg_sign} process: (1) thermal treatment of the coal in an inert atmosphere, (2) inert gas cooling of the hot coal, and (3) removal of ash minerals. When operated continuously, the demonstration plant produces over 1,000 tons per day (up to 300,000 tons per year) of SynCoal{reg_sign} with a 2% moisture content, approximately 11,800b Btu/lb and less than 1.0 pound of SO{sub 2} per million Btu. This product is obtained from Rosebud Mine sub-bituminous coal which starts with 25% moisture, 8,600 Btu/lb and approximately 1.6 pounds of SO{sub 2} per million Btu.

  8. Final report on dust monitoring near Kellingley coal mine, North Yorkshire

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vallack, H.W.

    1992-06-01

    Dust deposition was monitored at a residential location near Kellingley Coal Mine over two four-weekly periods (November/December 1991 and March/April 1992) using a wet Frisbee dust deposit gauge. The mean rates of dust deposition for both periods (696.4 and 415.5 mg m -2 day -1 respectively) were well in excess of a proposed acceptable upper limit (195 mg m -2 day -1 ) for residential conditions. Mean estimated coal dust content during both periods (80.9 and 49.7 per cent) was also high. It is concluded that coal dust from Kellingley Coal Mine gave rise to excessively high levels of dust deposition at the monitoring site, especially during the first four-weekly period. The situation would appear to have deteriorated since a similar monitoring exercise was carried out in 1989. 4 refs, 2 figs, 2 tabs

  9. Controllable growth of nanostructured carbon from coal tar pitch by chemical vapor deposition

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liu Xuguang; Yang Yongzhen; Ji Weiyun; Liu Hongyan; Zhang Chunyi; Xu Bingshe

    2007-01-01

    The direct synthesis of vapor grown carbon fibers with different diameters was achieved by the pyrolysis of coal tar pitch by chemical vapor deposition. The products were characterized by field-emission scanning electron microscopy, high resolution transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy. The experimental results demonstrated that ferrocene content, reaction temperature and Ar flow rate strongly influenced the yield and nature of nanostructured carbon materials, pure carbon microbeads, with diameter distribution ranging from 450 to 650 nm, were also obtained in the absence of catalyst, uniform and straight carbon nanofibers with the outer diameter of about 115 nm were obtained and curl and thick carbon fibers with narrow diameter distribution of 300-350 nm were produced

  10. Health impacts of coal and coal use: Possible solutions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Finkelman, R.B.; Orem, W.; Castranova, V.; Tatu, C.A.; Belkin, H.E.; Zheng, B.; Lerch, H.E.; Maharaj, S.V.; Bates, A.L.

    2002-01-01

    Coal will be a dominant energy source in both developed and developing countries for at least the first half of the 21st century. Environmental problems associated with coal, before mining, during mining, in storage, during combustion, and postcombustion waste products are well known and are being addressed by ongoing research. The connection between potential environmental problems with human health is a fairly new field and requires the cooperation of both the geoscience and medical disciplines. Three research programs that illustrate this collaboration are described and used to present a range of human health problems that are potentially caused by coal. Domestic combustion of coal in China has, in some cases, severely affected human health. Both on a local and regional scale, human health has been adversely affected by coals containing arsenic, fluorine, selenium, and possibly, mercury. Balkan endemic nephropathy (BEN), an irreversible kidney disease of unknown origin, has been related to the proximity of Pliocene lignite deposits. The working hypothesis is that groundwater is leaching toxic organic compounds as it passes through the lignites and that these organics are then ingested by the local population contributing to this health problem. Human disease associated with coal mining mainly results from inhalation of particulate matter during the mining process. The disease is Coal Worker's Pneumoconiosis characterized by coal dust-induced lesions in the gas exchange regions of the lung; the coal worker's "black lung disease". ?? 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

  11. Purification of mine water of radium - The implementation of the technology in a coal mine

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chalupnik, S.

    2002-01-01

    In underground coal mines in the Upper Silesian Coal Basin there are inflows of highly mineralised waters containing radium isotopes. These waters cause radioactive pollution of the natural environment in mining areas. Therefore cleaning of saline waters of radium is very important. Two types of radium-bearing waters were distinguished - one type containing radium and barium ions, but no sulphates (type A) and another one in which radium and sulphate ions are present but no barium (type B). A very efficient and inexpensive method of purification of saline waters, of Ba 2+ and Ra 2+ ions was developed and implemented in two coal mines. As the result of used technology, based on application of phosphogypsum as the cleaning agent, a significant decrease of radium discharge was achieved - daily of about 120 MBq of 226 Ra and 80 MBq of 228 Ra. Another type of radium waters does not contain barium ions, but contains sulphate ions SO 4 2- . There is no carrier for co-precipitation of radium so radium is transported with discharged waters to main rivers. Different method of purification from radium must be applied for such waters. Laboratory and field experiments were performed, and a cleaning method was chosen. For purification of saline waters - waste products from other industrial processes are applied. The method of purification have been applied in full technical scale in coal mine with very good results - of about 6 m 3 /min of radium-bearing waters is cleaned. Whole this process takes place in underground old workings without any contact of mining crew with radioactive deposits, which are produced during the process. As a result radium amount released to the natural environment was significantly diminished - approximately of about 90 MBq of 226 Ra per day and 150 MBq of 228 Ra. (author)

  12. Advanced coal-fueled gas turbine systems

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wenglarz, R.A.

    1994-08-01

    Several technology advances since the early coal-fueled turbine programs that address technical issues of coal as a turbine fuel have been developed in the early 1980s: Coal-water suspensions as fuel form, improved methods for removing ash and contaminants from coal, staged combustion for reducing NO{sub x} emissions from fuel-bound nitrogen, and greater understanding of deposition/erosion/corrosion and their control. Several Advanced Coal-Fueled Gas Turbine Systems programs were awarded to gas turbine manufacturers for for components development and proof of concept tests; one of these was Allison. Tests were conducted in a subscale coal combustion facility and a full-scale facility operating a coal combustor sized to the Allison Model 501-K industrial turbine. A rich-quench-lean (RQL), low nitrogen oxide combustor design incorporating hot gas cleanup was developed for coal fuels; this should also be applicable to biomass, etc. The combustor tests showed NO{sub x} and CO emissions {le} levels for turbines operating with natural gas. Water washing of vanes from the turbine removed the deposits. Systems and economic evaluations identified two possible applications for RQL turbines: Cogeneration plants based on Allison 501-K turbine (output 3.7 MW(e), 23,000 lbs/hr steam) and combined cycle power plants based on 50 MW or larger gas turbines. Coal-fueled cogeneration plant configurations were defined and evaluated for site specific factors. A coal-fueled turbine combined cycle plant design was identified which is simple, compact, and results in lower capital cost, with comparable efficiency and low emissions relative to other coal technologies (gasification, advanced PFBC).

  13. Southern ocean warming, sea level and hydrological change during the Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. Sluijs

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available A brief (~150 kyr period of widespread global average surface warming marks the transition between the Paleocene and Eocene epochs, ~56 million years ago. This so-called "Paleocene-Eocene thermal maximum" (PETM is associated with the massive injection of 13C-depleted carbon, reflected in a negative carbon isotope excursion (CIE. Biotic responses include a global abundance peak (acme of the subtropical dinoflagellate Apectodinium. Here we identify the PETM in a marine sedimentary sequence deposited on the East Tasman Plateau at Ocean Drilling Program (ODP Site 1172 and show, based on the organic paleothermometer TEX86, that southwest Pacific sea surface temperatures increased from ~26 °C to ~33°C during the PETM. Such temperatures before, during and after the PETM are >10 °C warmer than predicted by paleoclimate model simulations for this latitude. In part, this discrepancy may be explained by potential seasonal biases in the TEX86 proxy in polar oceans. Additionally, the data suggest that not only Arctic, but also Antarctic temperatures may be underestimated in simulations of ancient greenhouse climates by current generation fully coupled climate models. An early influx of abundant Apectodinium confirms that environmental change preceded the CIE on a global scale. Organic dinoflagellate cyst assemblages suggest a local decrease in the amount of river run off reaching the core site during the PETM, possibly in concert with eustatic rise. Moreover, the assemblages suggest changes in seasonality of the regional hydrological system and storm activity. Finally, significant variation in dinoflagellate cyst assemblages during the PETM indicates that southwest Pacific climates varied significantly over time scales of 103 – 104 years during this event, a finding comparable to similar studies of PETM successions from the New Jersey Shelf.

  14. Distribution and mode of occurrence of selenium in US coals

    Science.gov (United States)

    Coleman, L.; Bragg, L.J.; Finkelman, R.B.

    1993-01-01

    Selenium excess and deficiency have been established as the cause of various health problems in man and animals. Combustion of fossil fuels, especially coal, may be a major source of the anthropogenic introduction of selenium in the environment. Coal is enriched in selenium relative to selenium's concentration in most other rocks and relative to selenium in the Earth's crust. Data from almost 9,000 coal samples have been used to determine the concentration and distribution of selenium in US coals. The geometric mean concentration of selenium in US coal is 1.7 ppm. The highest mean selenium value (geometric mean 4.7 ppm) is in the Texas Region. Atlantic Coast (Virginia and North Carolina) and Alaska coals have the lowest geometric means (0.2 and 0.42 ppm, respectively). All western coal regions have mean selenium concentrations of less than 2.0 ppm. In contrast, all coal basins east of the Rocky Mountains (except for several small basins in Rhode Island, Virginia, and North Carolina) have mean selenium values of 1.9 or greater. Generally, variations in selenium concentration do not correlate with variations in ash yield, pyritic sulphur, or organic sulphur concentrations. This may be the result of multiple sources of selenium; however, in some non-marine basins with restricted sources of selenium, selenium has positive correlations with other coal quality parameters. Selenium occurs in several forms in coal but appears to be chiefly associated with the organic fraction, probably substituting for organic sulphur. Other important forms of selenium in coal are selenium-bearing pyrite, selenium-bearing galena, and lead selenide (clausthalite). Water-soluble and ion-exchangeable selenium also have been reported. ?? 1993 Copyright Science and Technology Letters.

  15. Tempo and scale of late Paleocene and early Eocene carbon isotope cycles: Implications for the origin of hyperthermals

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zachos, James C.; McCarren, Heather; Murphy, Brandon; Röhl, Ursula; Westerhold, Thomas

    2010-10-01

    The upper Paleocene and lower Eocene are marked by several prominent (> 1‰) carbon isotope (δ 13C) excursions (CIE) that coincide with transient global warmings, or thermal maxima, including the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM). The CIE, which are recorded mainly in marine sedimentary sequences, have also been identified in continental sequences, occurred episodically, and yet appear to be paced or triggered by orbital forcing. To constrain the timing and scale of the CIE relative to long-term baseline variability, we have constructed a 4.52 million year (myr) long, high-resolution (~ 3 kyr) bulk sediment carbon isotope record spanning the lower Eocene to upper Paleocene (C25r-C24n) from a pelagic sediment section recovered at ODP Site 1262 in the southeast Atlantic. This section, which was orbitally-tuned utilizing high-resolution core log physical property and geochemical records, is the most stratigraphically complete upper Paleocene to lower Eocene sequence recovered to date. Time-series analysis of the carbon isotope record along with a high-resolution Fe intensity record obtained by XRF core scanner reveal cyclicity with variance concentrated primarily in the precession (21 kyr) and eccentricity bands (100 and 400-kyr) throughout the upper Paleocene-lower Eocene. In general, minima in δ 13C correspond with peaks in Fe (i.e., carbonate dissolution), both of which appear to be in phase with maxima in eccentricity. This covariance is consistent with excess oceanic uptake of isotopically depleted carbon resulting in lower carbonate saturation during periods of high eccentricity. This relationship includes all late Paleocene and early Eocene CIE confirming pacing by orbital forcing. The lone exception is the PETM, which appears to be out of phase with the 400-kyr cycle, though possibly in phase with the 100-kyr cycle, reinforcing the notion that a mechanism other than orbital forcing and/or an additional source of carbon is required to account for the

  16. The origin and distribution of HAPs elements in relation to maceral composition of the A1 lignite bed (Paleocene, Calvert Bluff Formation, Wilcox Group), Calvert mine area, east-central Texas

    Science.gov (United States)

    Crowley, Sharon S.; Warwick, Peter D.; Ruppert, Leslie F.; Pontolillo, James

    1997-01-01

    The origin and distribution of twelve potentially Hazardous Air Pollutants (HAPs; As, Be, Cd, Cr, Co, Hg, Mn, Ni, Pb, Sb, Se, and U) identified in the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments were examined in relation to the maceral composition of the A1 bed (Paleocene, Calvert Bluff Formation, Wilcox Group) of the Calvert mine in east-central Texas. The 3.2 m-thick A1 bed was divided into nine incremental channel samples (7 lignite samples and 2 shaley coal samples) on the basis of megascopic characteristics. Results indicate that As, Cd, Cr, Ni, Pb, Sb, and U are strongly correlated with ash yield and are enriched in the shaley coal samples. We infer that these elements are associated with inorganic constituents in the coal bed and may be derived from a penecontemporaneous stream channel located several kilometers southeast of the mining block. Of the HAPs elements studied, Mn and Hg are the most poorly correlated to ash yield. We infer an organic association for Mn; Hg may be associated with pyrite. The rest of the trace elements (Be, Co, and Se) are weakly correlated with ash yield. Further analytical work is necessary to determine the mode of occurrence for these elements. Overall, concentrations of the HAPs elements are generally similar to or less than those reported in previous studies of lignites of the Wilcox Group, east-central region, Texas. Petrographic analysis indicates the following ranges in composition for the seven lignite samples: liptinites (5–8%), huminites (88–95%), and inertinites (trace amounts to 7%). Samples from the middle portion of the A1 bed contain abundant crypto-eugelinite compared to the rest of the samples; this relationship suggests that the degradation of plant material was an important process during the development of the peat mire. With the exception of Hg and Mn, relatively low levels of the HAPs elements studied are found in the samples containing abundant crypto-eugelinite. We infer that the peat-forming environment for this

  17. Processing Uranium-Bearing Materials Containing Coal and Loam

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Civin, V; Prochazka, J [Research and Development Laboratory No. 3 of the Uranium Industry, Prague, Czechoslovakia (Czech Republic)

    1967-06-15

    Among the ores which are classified as low-grade in the CSSR are mixtures of coal and bentonitic loam of tertiary origin, containing approximately 0.1% U and with a moisture content at times well above 20-30%. The uranium is held mainly by the carbonaceous component. Conventional processing of these materials presents various difficulties which are not easily overcome. During leaching the pulp thickens and frequently becomes pasty, due to the presence of montmorillonites. Further complications arise from the high sorption capacity of the materials (again primarily due to montmorillonites) and poor sedimentation of the viscous pulps. In addition, the materials are highly refractory to the leaching agents. The paper presents experience gained in solving the problems of processing these ores. The following basic routes were explored: (1) separation of the carbonaceous and loamy components: The organic component appears to be the main activity carrier. Processing the concentrated material upon separation of the inactive or less active loam may not only remove the thixotropic behaviour but also substantially reduce the cost of the ore treatment; (2) 'liquifying' the pulps or preventing the thickening of the pulp by addition of suitable agents; (3) joint acid or carbonate processing of the materials in question with current ore types; (4) removal or suppression of thixotropic behaviour by thermal pretreatment of the material; and (5) application of the 'acid cure' method. The first method appears to be the most effective, but it presents considerable difficulties due to the extreme dispersion of the carbonaceous phase and further research is being carried out. Methods 2 and 3 proved to be unacceptable. Method 4, which includes roasting at 300-400{sup o}C, is now being operated on an industrial scale. The final method has also shown definite advantages for particular deposits of high montmorillonite content material. (author)

  18. Identification of the Paleocene-Eocene boundary in coastal strata in the Otway Basin, Victoria, Australia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Frieling, Joost; Huurdeman, Emiel P.; Rem, Charlotte C. M.; Donders, Timme H.; Pross, Jörg; Bohaty, Steven M.; Holdgate, Guy R.; Gallagher, Stephen J.; McGowran, Brian; Bijl, Peter K.

    2018-02-01

    Detailed, stratigraphically well-constrained environmental reconstructions are available for Paleocene and Eocene strata at a range of sites in the southwest Pacific Ocean (New Zealand and East Tasman Plateau; ETP) and Integrated Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Site U1356 in the south of the Australo-Antarctic Gulf (AAG). These reconstructions have revealed a large discrepancy between temperature proxy data and climate models in this region, suggesting a crucial error in model, proxy data or both. To resolve the origin of this discrepancy, detailed reconstructions are needed from both sides of the Tasmanian Gateway. Paleocene-Eocene sedimentary archives from the west of the Tasmanian Gateway have unfortunately remained scarce (only IODP Site U1356), and no well-dated successions are available for the northern sector of the AAG. Here we present new stratigraphic data for upper Paleocene and lower Eocene strata from the Otway Basin, southeast Australia, on the (north)west side of the Tasmanian Gateway. We analyzed sediments recovered from exploration drilling (Latrobe-1 drill core) and outcrop sampling (Point Margaret) and performed high-resolution carbon isotope geochemistry of bulk organic matter and dinoflagellate cyst (dinocyst) and pollen biostratigraphy on sediments from the regional lithostratigraphic units, including the Pebble Point Formation, Pember Mudstone and Dilwyn Formation. Pollen and dinocyst assemblages are assigned to previously established Australian pollen and dinocyst zonations and tied to available zonations for the SW Pacific. Based on our dinocyst stratigraphy and previously published planktic foraminifer biostratigraphy, the Pebble Point Formation at Point Margaret is dated to the latest Paleocene. The globally synchronous negative carbon isotope excursion that marks the Paleocene-Eocene boundary is identified within the top part of the Pember Mudstone in the Latrobe-1 borehole and at Point Margaret. However, the high abundances of the

  19. Correlation between the coal quality from 'Suvodol' and briquetting processes for coals, peat and other combustible materials (coal deposit in Macedonia)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Damjanovski, Dragan; Popovski, Dushko; Mitrevski, Pece

    1997-01-01

    In this paper the regression equations for the characteristics of Suvodol coal and the technological parameters of obtained briquets are given. It is shown that correlations between the coal characteristics are linear, while correlations between briquetting parameters are nonlinear

  20. Beneficiation of power grade coals: its relevance to future coal use in India

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sachdev, R.K.

    1992-01-01

    With consumption increasing from the current level of 220 mt. to over 600 mt. by the year 2010 A.D., coal will continue to enjoy a prime position in the overall energy scene in India. India being endowed with coal resources of high ash content, the major coal consuming industries have, by and large, adjusted the combustion techniques to suit the quality of coal available. However, wide fluctuations in the quality of coal supplies adversely affect their plant performance. With the coal deposits being localised in the eastern and central parts of peninsular India, the load on railway network in carrying coal to other parts of the country will continue to increase and this will emerge as a major constraint in managing the coal supply to the consuming centres located away from the coal fields. It is in this context, the author has discussed the need of setting up of coal cleaning facilities at the pit heads. The extent to which the transport network will be relieved of carrying avoidable muck in coal has been quantified along with the benefits that will accrue in the form of extra transport capacity, better power plant performance and reduced air pollution and solid waste at consumer end. (author). 5 refs., 6 tabs., 8 figs

  1. 21 CFR 740.18 - Coal tar hair dyes posing a risk of cancer.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ... 21 Food and Drugs 7 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Coal tar hair dyes posing a risk of cancer. 740.18... (CONTINUED) COSMETICS COSMETIC PRODUCT WARNING STATEMENTS Warning Statements § 740.18 Coal tar hair dyes... coal tar hair dye containing any ingredient listed in paragraph (b) of this section shall bear, in...

  2. Macrocrystal phlogopite Rb-Sr dates for the Ekati property kimberlites, Slave Province, Canada: evidence for multiple intrusive episodes in the Paleocene and Eocene

    Science.gov (United States)

    Creaser, Robert A.; Grütter, Herman; Carlson, Jon; Crawford, Barbara

    2004-09-01

    New Rb-Sr age determinations using macrocrystal phlogopite are presented for 27 kimberlites from the Ekati property of the Lac de Gras region, Slave Province, Canada. These new data show that kimberlite magmatism at Ekati ranges in age from at least Late Paleocene (∼61 Ma) to Middle Eocene time (∼45 Ma). Older, perovskite-bearing kimberlites from Ekati extend this age range to Late Cretaceous time (∼74 Ma). Within this age range, emplacement episodes at ∼48, 51-53, 55-56 and 59-61 Ma can be recognized. Middle Eocene kimberlite magmatism of the previously dated Mark kimberlite (∼47.5 Ma) is shown to include four other pipes from the east-central Ekati property. A single kimberlite (Aaron) may be younger than the 47.5 Ma Mark kimberlite. The economically important Panda kimberlite is precisely dated in this study to be 53.3±0.6 Ma using the phlogopite isochron method, and up to six additional kimberlites from the central Ekati property have Early Eocene ages indistinguishable from that of Panda, including the Koala and Koala North occurrences. Late Paleocene 55-56 Ma kimberlite magmatism, represented by the Diavik kimberlite pipes adjacent to the southeastern Ekati property, is shown to extend onto the southeastern Ekati property and includes three, and possibly four, kimberlites. A precise eight-point phlogopite isochron for the Cobra South kimberlite yields an emplacement age of 59.7±0.4 Ma; eight other kimberlites from across the Ekati property have similar Late Paleocene Rb-Sr model ages. The addition of 27 new emplacement ages for kimberlites from the Ekati property confirms that kimberlite magmatism from the central Slave Province is geologically young, despite ages ranging back to Cambrian time from elsewhere in the Slave Province. With the available geochronologic database, Lac de Gras kimberlites with the highest diamond potential are currently restricted to the 51-53 and 55-56 Ma periods of kimberlite magmatism.

  3. Palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of Hüsamlar coal seam, SW

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    The Ören and Yatağan Basins in SW Turkey host several Miocene coal deposits currently under exploitation for power generation. The present study aims to provide insight into the palaeoenvironmental conditions, which controlled the formation of the Hüsamlar coal seam located in Ören Basin. The coal seam displays ...

  4. The natural radioactivity in vicinity of the brown coal mine Tusnica - Livno, BiH

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Saracevic, L.; Samek, D.; Mihalj, A.; Gradascevic, N.

    2009-01-01

    Coal mine Tusnica is located in South-West part of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the municipality Livno. Coal mine Tusnica consists of two surface coal mines. The first one is brown coal surface deposit called Drage and second one is lignite deposit called Table. The brown coal deposit shows increased levels of natural radionuclides. The highest absorbed dose rate is recorded in the center of the surface coal mine Tusnica-Drage (500 nGy h -1 ) as result of the increased content of uranium and radium in coal (average specific activity of U-238 is 623 ± 23 Bq kg -1 and Ra-226 is 1191 ± 5 Bq kg -1 ). Levels of natural radionuclides in the vicinity of the surface deposit Drage in agricultural soil (about 3 km of the centre mine) are slightly increased due to the use of the coal ash and coal dust for fertilization of the land (U-238 is 142 ± 11 Bq kg -1 and Ra-226 is 197 ± 2 Bq kg -1 ). Obtained results in soil-plant-animal products chain does not show significantly increased levels of natural radionuclides due to the fact that mentioned radionuclides, in general, have a low transfer factors in soil-plant-animal products chain. (author)

  5. Microbial production of natural gas from coal and organic-rich shale

    Science.gov (United States)

    Orem, William

    2013-01-01

    Natural gas is an important component of the energy mix in the United States, producing greater energy yield per unit weight and less pollution compared to coal and oil. Most of the world’s natural gas resource is thermogenic, produced in the geologic environment over time by high temperature and pressure within deposits of oil, coal, and shale. About 20 percent of the natural gas resource, however, is produced by microorganisms (microbes). Microbes potentially could be used to generate economic quantities of natural gas from otherwise unexploitable coal and shale deposits, from coal and shale from which natural gas has already been recovered, and from waste material such as coal slurry. Little is known, however, about the microbial production of natural gas from coal and shale.

  6. Book review: Economic geology: Principles and practice: Metals, minerals, coal and hydrocarbons—Introduction to formation and sustainable exploitation of mineral deposits

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anderson, Eric

    2013-01-01

    This volume, available in both hardcover and paperback, is an English translation of the fifth edition of the German language text Mineralische und Energie-Rohstoffe. The book provides an extensive overview of natural resources and societal issues associated with extracting raw materials. The comprehensive list of raw materials discussed includes metals, industrial minerals, coal, and hydrocarbons. The book is divided into four parts: (1) “Metalliferous ore deposits,” (2) “Nonmetallic minerals and rocks,” (3) “Practice of economic geology,” and (4) “Fossil energy raw materials—coal, oil, and gas.” These sections are bound by a brief introduction and an extensive list of up-to-date references as well as an index. Each chapter begins with a concise synopsis and concludes with a summary that contains useful suggestions for additional reading. All figures are grayscale images and line drawings; however, several have been grouped together and reproduced as color plates. Also included is a companion website (www.wiley.com/go/pohl/geology) that contains additional resources, such as digital copies of figures, tables, and an expanded index, all available for download in easy-to-use formats.Economic Geology: Principles and Practice: Metals, Minerals, Coal and Hydrocarbons—Introduction to Formation and Sustainable Exploitation of Mineral Deposits. Walter l. Pohl. 2011. Wiley-Blackwell. Pp. 663. ISBN 978-1-4443-3663-4 (paperback).

  7. Slagging in a pulverised-coal-fired boiler

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Devir, G.P.; Pohl, J.H.; Creelman, R.A. [University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Qld. (Australia). Dept. of Chemical Engineering

    2000-07-01

    This paper describes a technique to evaluate the severity of slagging of a coal in a pulverised-coal-fired boiler. There are few data in the literature on the nature of in-situ boiler slags, their rate of growth and/or their strength properties relevant to sootblowing. The latter is thought to be of more concern to boiler operators and gives rise to the significance of selecting suitable strength tests. As well as standardised methods for characterising pulverised coal performance in a boiler, several novel and less popular techniques are discussed in detail. A suite of three sub-bituminous coals from the Callide Coalfields, Biloela (600 km north of Brisbane), has been selected for slagging tests in the 350 MW{sub e} units of Callide 'B' power station. Disposable air-cooled mild steel slagging probes have been constructed to simulate the conditions for deposit formation in the boiler region. To date, tests for one of these coals has been completed and preliminary results are presented. Once testing for the remaining coals has been completed, it is anticipated that the differences exhibited in deposit growth and strength may be correlated with typical variations in physical and chemical properties of the pulverised coal.

  8. A preliminary study of mineralogy and geochemistry of four coal samples from northern Iran

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Goodarzi, F.; Sanei, H.; Stasiuk, L.D.; Reyes, J. [Natural Resources Canada, Geological Survey of Canada-Calgary Division, Calgary, Alberta (Canada); Bagheri-Sadeghi, H. [Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Azad University, Central Campus, Tehran (Iran)

    2006-01-03

    This study is related to four Jurassic-age bituminous coal (0.69-1.02 Ro%) samples collected from coal mines from the west, central and east of central, Alborz in northern Iran. Geological settings played key roles in determining the geochemistry and mineralogy of coals from the central Alborz region of northern Iran. The mineralogy of coals from the eastern part of the region is dominated by kaolinite; halloysite; and carbonates such as calcite, dolomite/ankerite, and siderite. The coals were deposited in a lacustrine environment. In the western part of the region, where the depositional setting was also lacustrine with volcanic input and tonstein deposition (glass shards present), the coal primarily contains kaolinite (68%) and fluorapatite (26%). In contrast, coal from the central part of the region, which was deposited in a terrestrial environment and on eroded limestone and dolomite rocks, is dominated by dolomite (98%) with little input by kaolinite. These coals have low sulphur (0.35-0.70 wt.%), which is mostly in the organic form (0.34-0.69 wt.%). Pyritic sulphur is detected only in one coal and in small quantities. The boron contents of these coals range from 9 to 33 mg/kg, indicating that deposition occurred in a fresh water environment. Coal with higher concentrations of Ba, Sr, and P contain fluorapatite and goyazite-gorceixite series [BaAl{sub 3} (PO{sub 4}){sub 2} (OH){sub 5}, H{sub 2}O] minerals, which indicates volcanoclastic input. Compared to world coal averages, these coals exhibit low concentrations of elements of environmental concern, such as As (1.3-5.9 mg/kg), Cd (<0.02-0.06 mg/kg), Hg (<0.01-0.07 mg/kg) Mo (<0.6-1.7 mg/kg), Pb (4.8-13 mg/kg), Th (0.5-21 mg/kg), Se (<0.2-0.8 mg/kg) and U (0.2-4.6 mg/kg). Two of the northern Iranian coals have concentrations of Cl (2560 and 3010 mg/kg) that are higher than world coal average. (author)

  9. Transformations of inorganic coal constituents in combustion systems

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Helble, J.J. (ed.); Srinivasachar, S.; Wilemski, G.; Boni, A.A. (PSI Technology Co., Andover, MA (United States)); Kang, Shin-Gyoo; Sarofim, A.F.; Graham, K.A.; Beer, J.M. (Massachusetts Inst. of Tech., Cambridge, MA (United States)); Peterson, T.W.; Wendt, J.O.L.; Gallagher, N.B.; Bool, L. (Arizona Univ., Tucson, AZ (United States)); Huggins, F.E.; Huffman, G.P.; Shah, N.; Shah, A. (Kentucky Univ., Lexingt

    1992-11-01

    The inorganic constituents or ash contained in pulverized coal significantly increase the environmental and economic costs of coal utilization. For example, ash particles produced during combustion may deposit on heat transfer surfaces, decreasing heat transfer rates and increasing maintenance costs. The minimization of particulate emissions often requires the installation of cleanup devices such as electrostatic precipitators, also adding to the expense of coal utilization. Despite these costly problems, a comprehensive assessment of the ash formation and had never been attempted. At the start of this program, it was hypothesized that ash deposition and ash particle emissions both depended upon the size and chemical composition of individual ash particles. Questions such as: What determines the size of individual ash particles What determines their composition Whether or not particles deposit How combustion conditions, including reactor size, affect these processes remained to be answered. In this 6-year multidisciplinary study, these issues were addressed in detail. The ambitious overall goal was the development of a comprehensive model to predict the size and chemical composition distributions of ash produced during pulverized coal combustion. Results are described.

  10. Palynology of the coal-bearing strata of Santofirme (Oviedo, Northern Spain)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Horvath, V.

    1984-01-01

    In the immediate vicinity of Santofirme, 16 km south-east of Oviedo, there is an 18 km/sup 2/ outcrop of material from the Carboniferous period which forms a syncline running north-east to south-west and which, in places, is covered with Permo-Triassic and Tertiary material from the Depresion de Llanera. The series consists of regularly alternating layers of lutite and sandstone with bands of coal and a few lime bands in the lower section. Twenty-one of the coal bands, grouped together in eight packets, are worked by Minas de Villabona SA. All the coal bands in the western flank of the syncline have been tested. Most of the samples were collected from four drillings carried out by ENADIMSA in 1982; those remaining were taken from the surface at the Arroyo Socavon and La Tejera opencast sites.

  11. Coal facies evolution of the main minable coal-bed in the Heidaigou Mine, Jungar Coalfield, Inner Mongolia, northern China

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dai, S.F.; Ren, D.Y.; Li, S.S.; Zhao, L.; Zhang, Y. [China University of Mining & Technology, Beijing (China)

    2007-11-15

    The No. 6 Coal-bed from the Heidaigou Mine, Jungar Coalfield, Inner Mongolia is a super-large Ga deposit. The dominant carrier of Ga is boehmite in coal. The study of coal facies may provide genetic enrichment information of Ga and its carrier (boehmite) in the Ga deposit. On the basis of study on coal petrology and mineralogy, it was found that the No. 6 Coal-bed from the Heidaigou Mine of Jungar was enriched in inertinites and the microlithotypes were dominated by clarodurite. The maceral morphological features and association indicate that the coal-bed was formed in a dry sedimentary environment or in a periodic dry sedimentary environment caused by the alternating variations of groundwater level. The optimum conditions for the enrichment of Ga and its particular carrier (boehmite) were dominated by four transitional conditions: (1) the upper delta plain which was the transitional zone between alluvial and lower delta plains, (2) the transitional zone between the dry and wet forest swamps, being slightly apt to the dry one, (3) the transitional tree density between the thick and loose ones, and (4) the low moor that was the transitional zone between two high moors during peat accumulation.

  12. Calibration of the Late Cretaceous to Paleocene geomagnetic polarity and astrochronological time scales: new results from high-precision U-Pb geochronology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ramezani, Jahandar; Clyde, William; Wang, Tiantian; Johnson, Kirk; Bowring, Samuel

    2016-04-01

    Reversals in the Earth's magnetic polarity are geologically abrupt events of global magnitude that makes them ideal timelines for stratigraphic correlation across a variety of depositional environments, especially where diagnostic marine fossils are absent. Accurate and precise calibration of the Geomagnetic Polarity Timescale (GPTS) is thus essential to the reconstruction of Earth history and to resolving the mode and tempo of biotic and environmental change in deep time. The Late Cretaceous - Paleocene GPTS is of particular interest as it encompasses a critical period of Earth history marked by the Cretaceous greenhouse climate, the peak of dinosaur diversity, the end-Cretaceous mass extinction and its paleoecological aftermaths. Absolute calibration of the GPTS has been traditionally based on sea-floor spreading magnetic anomaly profiles combined with local magnetostratigraphic sequences for which a numerical age model could be established by interpolation between an often limited number of 40Ar/39Ar dates from intercalated volcanic ash deposits. Although the Neogene part of the GPTS has been adequately calibrated using cyclostratigraphy-based, astrochronological schemes, the application of these approaches to pre-Neogene parts of the timescale has been complicated given the uncertainties of the orbital models and the chaotic behavior of the solar system this far back in time. Here we present refined chronostratigraphic frameworks based on high-precision U-Pb geochronology of ash beds from the Western Interior Basin of North America and the Songliao Basin of Northeast China that places tight temporal constraints on the Late Cretaceous to Paleocene GPTS, either directly or by testing their astrochronological underpinnings. Further application of high-precision radioisotope geochronology and calibrated astrochronology promises a complete and robust Cretaceous-Paleogene GPTS, entirely independent of sea-floor magnetic anomaly profiles.

  13. Ash transformation during co-firing coal and straw

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Zheng, Yuanjing; Jensen, Peter Arendt; Jensen, Anker Degn

    2007-01-01

    Co-firing straw with coal in pulverized fuel boilers can cause problems related to fly ash utilization, deposit formation, corrosion and SCR catalyst deactivation due to the high contents of Cl and K in the ash. To investigate the interaction between coal and straw ash and the effect of coal...... quality on fly ash and deposit properties, straw was co-fired with three kinds of coal in an entrained flow reactor. The compositions of the produced ashes were compared to the available literature data to find suitable scaling parameters that can be used to predict the composition of ash from straw...... and coal co-firing. Reasonable agreement in fly ash compositions regarding total K and fraction of water soluble K was obtained between co-firing in an entrained flow reactor and full-scale plants. Capture of potassium and subsequent release of HCl can be achieved by sulphation with SO2 and more...

  14. Speleology and magnetobiostratigraphic chronology of the GD 2 locality of the Gondolin hominin-bearing paleocave deposits, North West Province, South Africa.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Herries, Andy I R; Adams, Justin W; Kuykendall, Kevin L; Shaw, John

    2006-12-01

    Speleological, paleomagnetic, mineral magnetic, and biochronological analyses have been undertaken at the Gondolin hominin-bearing paleocave, North West Province, South Africa. Two fossiliferous but stratigraphically separate sequences, GD2 and GD1/3, which were once part of a large cavern system, have been identified. Although some comparative paleomagnetic samples were taken from the GD 1, 3, and 4 localities that are currently under investigation, the research presented here focuses on the fossil-rich, in situ deposits at locality GD 2, excavated by E.S. Vrba in 1979. The GD 2 deposits are dominated by normal-polarity calcified clastic deposits that are sandwiched between clastic-free flowstone speleothems. The lower flowstone has a sharp contact with the red siltstone deposits and is of reversed polarity. The capping flowstone shows a change from normal to reversed polarity, thereby preserving a polarity reversal. While the paleomagnetic work indicates that the GD 2 fossil material was deposited during a normal-polarity period, the shortness of the sequence made matching of the magnetostratigraphy to the geomagnetic polarity time scale (GPTS) impossible without the aid of biochronology. While lacking multiple time-sensitive taxa, the recovery of specimens attributable to Stage III Metridiochoerus andrewsi is consistent with a deposition date between 1.9 and 1.5 Ma. A comparison of the magnetostratigraphy with the GPTS therefore suggests that the fauna-bearing siltstone of GD 2 date to the Olduvai normal-polarity event, which occurred between 1.95 and 1.78 Ma, and that the reversal from normal to reversed polarity identified in the capping flowstone dates to 1.78 Ma. The main faunal layers therefore date to slightly older than 1.78 Ma. Deposits from the GD 1 locality are dominated by reversed directions of magnetization, which show that this deposit is not of the same age as the faunal layers from the GD 2 locality.

  15. Reconnaissance coal study in the Susitna basin, 2014

    Science.gov (United States)

    David L. LePain,; Stanley, Richard G.; Harun, Nina T.; Helmold, Kenneth T.; Tsigonis, Rebekah

    2015-01-01

    The Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys (DGGS) conducted fieldwork during the summer of 2014 in the Susitna basin as part of an ongoing evaluation of the hydrocarbon potential of frontier basins, particularly those near the Railbelt region (for example, Decker and others, 2013; Gillis and others, 2013). Topical studies associated with this recent work include sedimentary facies analysis (LePain and others, 2015) and structural geology investigations (Gillis and others, 2015). The Susitna basin contains coal-bearing Paleogene and Neogene strata correlative with formations that host oil and gas in Cook Inlet basin to its south. Isotopic signatures of natural gas reservoired in the Miocene/Pliocene Sterling and Miocene Beluga Formations suggest a biogenic origin for Cook Inlet gas (Claypool and others, 1980). To assess the biogenic gas potential of the Susitna basin, it is important to obtain information from its coal-bearing units.Characteristics of coal, such as maturity/rank and cleat development are key parameters influencing viability of a biogenic gas system (Laubach and others, 1998). In an early study of the Susitna basin (Beluga–Yentna region), Barnes (1966) identified, analyzed, and recognized potentially valuable subbituminous coal resources at Fairview Mountain, Canyon Creek, and Johnson Creek. Merritt (1990), in a sedimentological study to evaluate surface coal mining potential of the Tertiary rocks of the Susitna basin (Susitna lowland), concluded that the basin contained several billion tons of mineable reserves. This preliminary report offers a brief summary of new information on coals in the Susitna Basin acquired during associated stratigraphic studies (see LePain and others, 2015). 

  16. The mineral matter characteristics of some Chinese coal

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Liu, X. [China University of Mining and Technology (China). Dept. of Coal Preparation and Utilization

    1994-12-01

    The mineral matter has been separated from 18 coal samples with a low temperature ashes and analyzed by means of X-ray diffraction method. Based on the results of chemical analysis of the coal ash, with reference to the standard composition of minerals, the content of various mineral phases in the coal ash has been determined. Furthermore, this paper summarizes the mineral matter characteristics of the coal samples and discusses the relationship between the composition of mineral matter in coal and its depositional environment.

  17. Coal forming conditions for coal seams and coal measures of the Heshan Group Upper Permian Series in Guangxi Province (part 1)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Li, Y.

    1980-10-01

    Coal forming conditions for the coal measures of the Heshan Group are discussed based on the analysis of the historical background and paleogeographical environment of the Permian in Guangxi Province. The roof, floor, and partings of the seams are composed of algal micritic limestone, therefore affirming that the central part of Guangxi Province in the late Permian was a typical epi-continental sea. The compensative deposit of algea on the carbonate platform in very shallow water created the conditions for the occurrence of the peat swamp and established the supra-tidal swampy facies. The environment for the accumulation of the major coal seams are analyzed. (In Chinese)

  18. Uraniferous concentrations in the Francevillian of Gabon: their association with fossil hydrocarbon-bearing ore deposits of the lower Proterozoic

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gauthier-Lafaye, Francois; Weber, Francis

    1981-01-01

    The Francevillian U deposits of Gabon are located in one of the oldest non metamorphic sedimentary series of the Lower Proterozoic 2150 M.Y. old. The uraniferous mineralization 2050 M.Y. old is strongly related to organic matter concentrated in oil-bearing structures after migration. No geological event remobilized the mineralizations since their settling [fr

  19. Lacustrine basin evolution and coal accumulation of the Middle Jurassic in the Saishiteng coalfield, northern Qaidam Basin, China

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Meng Li

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available Based on an extensive borehole survey of the Middle Jurassic coal-bearing sequences in the Saishiteng coalfield, northern Qaidam Basin (NQB, a total of 20 rock types and 5 sedimentary facies were identified, including braided river, meandering river, braided delta, meandering river delta, and lacustrine facies. The distribution of rock types and sedimentary facies contributed to the reconstruction of three periods' sedimentary facies maps of the Middle Jurassic in the Saishiteng coalfield, namely, the Dameigou age, the early Shimengou age and the late Shimengou age. That also provided the basis for the development of a three-stage depositional model of the Middle Jurassic in the NQB, indicating the lacustrine basin of the NQB in the Dameigou age and early Shimengou age were corresponding to an overfill basin, and that in the late Shimengou age was related to a balanced-fill basin. The analysis of the stability and structure of coal seams based on sedimentary facies maps showed that the preferred coal-forming facies in the Saishiteng coalfield were inter-delta bay and interdistributary bay of lower delta plain in the Dameigou age. In particular, the swamps that developed on the subaqueous palaeohigh favored the development of thick coal seams. Thus, minable coal seams may also be found along the Pingtai palaeohigh in the western part of the Saishiteng coalfield.

  20. The effect of mercury deposition to ecosystem around coal-power plants in Tan-An peninsular, S. Korea

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Y.; Lee, J.; Song, K.; Shin, S.; Han, J.; Hong, E.; Jung, G.

    2009-12-01

    According to UNEP’s Report in 2008, Korea is one of the largest mercury emitting country with emission amount of 32 tones and the contribution of stationary coal combustion is estimated around 59%, as one of major mercury emission sources. There are growing needs of ecosystem mercury monitoring to evaluate the effectiveness on mercury emission controls by regulations. Thus, the aim of this study was to identify the useful monitoring indicators by comparing mercury levels of various environmental matrices in different ecosystems. Tae-an coal power plant, located on the west coastal of Korea is selected for study sites since it is one of the largest coal power plant in Korea with 4000 MW capacities. We chose 2 reservoirs near to Tae-an coal power plant and 2 others in An-myeon and Baeg-ryeong island for control study. Total gaseous mercury of ambient air was 3.6, 4.5 and 1.2 ng/m3 for Tae-an, An-myeon and Baeg-ryeong sites, respectively. From these results, we investigated and compared total mercury and methylmercury concentrations in surface water, soil, sediment, leaves and freshwater fish between reservoirs, which were known for the indicators of mercury atmospheric deposition. Estimates for the potential rates of methylation and activities of sulfur reducing bacteria were also made by injection radioactive isotopes of 203Hg and 35S. Potential methylation rate and acid volatile sulfide formation potential were dramatically changed by depth and maximum values were found in the top sediment section.

  1. Coal-water fuels - a clean coal solution for Eastern Europe

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ljubicic, B.; Willson, W.; Bukurov, Z.; Cvijanovic, P.; Stajner, K.; Popovic, R.

    1993-01-01

    Eastern Europe currently faces great economic and environmental problems. Among these problems is energy provision. Coal reserves are large but cause pollution while oil and gas need to be used for export. Formal 'clean coal technologies' are simply too expensive to be implemented on a large scale in the current economic crisis. The promised western investment and technological help has simply not taken place, western Europe must help eastern Europe with coal technology. The cheapest such technology is coal-water fuel slurry. It can substitute for oil, but research has not been carried out because of low oil prices. Coal-water fuel is one of the best methods of exploiting low rank coal. Many eastern European low rank coals have a low sulfur content, and thus make a good basis for a clean fuel. Italy and Russia are involved in such a venture, the slurry being transported in a pipeline. This technology would enable Russia to exploit Arctic coal reserves, thus freeing oil and gas for export. In Serbia the exploitation of sub-Danube lignite deposits with dredging mining produced a slurry. This led to the use and development of hot water drying, which enabled the removal of many of the salts which cause problems in pulverized fuel combustion. The system is economic, the fuel safer to transport then oil, either by rail or in pipelines. Many eastern European oil facilities could switch. 24 refs

  2. 7 CFR 761.53 - Interest bearing accounts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    ... 7 Agriculture 7 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Interest bearing accounts. 761.53 Section 761.53... AGRICULTURE SPECIAL PROGRAMS GENERAL PROGRAM ADMINISTRATION Supervised Bank Accounts § 761.53 Interest bearing accounts. (a) A supervised bank account, if possible, will be established as an interest bearing deposit...

  3. Application of Moessbauer spectroscopy for: (1) characterization of Egyptian Maghara coal; (2) evaluating the efficiency of different methods for coal desulphurization

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Eissa, N.A.; Sheta, N.H.; Ahmed, M.A.

    1992-01-01

    Coal has been recently discovered in Maghara mine at Northern Sinai, Egypt. Coal samples have been collected from different depths and were measured by XRD, XRF, and MS, in order to characterize this type of coal. It has been found that the iron bearing minerals are mainly pyrite and different sulphates depending on the depth of the sample. The second part contains the application of desulphurization techniques to Egyptian coal which are: floatation (one step and two steps), chemical [(HCl+HNO 3 ), and Fe 2 (SO 4 ) 3 ] and bacterial methods (Chromatium and Chlorobium species). The efficiency of each technique was calculated. A comparative discussion is given of each desulphurization method, from which the bacterial method has proved to be the most efficient one. (orig.)

  4. Brent coal typing by combined optical and geochemical studies

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ducazeaux, J.; Le Tran, K.; Nicolas, G. (Societe Nationale des Petroles d' Aquitaine (SNPA), 64 - Pau (France))

    1991-12-01

    Palynological,petrographical and organic geochemical studies show that various kinds of coal occur throughout the Middle Jurassic Brent Group in the Viking Graben. Two types of coal with strong contrast in terms of source rock potential are thoroughly investigated in this study. It is found that they are relevant to two distinct organic facies. Though having the same organic carbon content, they are very different with respect to the petroleum generating potential, one being a conventional gas-prone coal of type III kerogen and the other one of type II-(III) kerogen which should be considered as an oil-generating coal. Explanations are sought for the difference observed, both geochemically and optically. Palynological study shows the occurrence of two distinct communities of land plants in relation with the depositional environment and climatic changes, whilst coal petrographical study shows that the macerals are unevenly and differently distributed in these two coal types. The original organic material and the depositional environment appear to be the main controlling factors. 13 Refs.; 8 Figs.

  5. Clean utilization of low-rank coals for low-cost power generation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sondreal, E.A.

    1992-01-01

    Despite the unique utilization problems of low-rank coals, the ten US steam electric plants having the lowest operating cost in 1990 were all fueled on either lignite or subbituminous coal. Ash deposition problems, which have been a major barrier to sustaining high load on US boilers burning high-sodium low-rank coals, have been substantially reduced by improvements in coal selection, boiler design, on-line cleaning, operating conditions, and additives. Advantages of low-rank coals in advanced systems are their noncaking behavior when heated, their high reactivity allowing more complete reaction at lower temperatures, and the low sulfur content of selected deposits. The principal barrier issues are the high-temperature behavior of ash and volatile alkali derived from the coal-bound sodium found in some low-rank coals. Successful upgrading of low-rank coals requires that the product be both stable and suitable for end use in conventional and advanced systems. Coal-water fuel produced by hydrothermal processing of high-moisture low-rank coal meets these criteria, whereas most dry products from drying or carbonizing in hot gas tend to create dust and spontaneous ignition problems unless coated, agglomerated, briquetted, or afforded special handling

  6. The influence of brown coal exploitation in Poland on the groundwater pollution as determined by isotopic analyses of sulphate

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Halas, S.; Trembaczowski, A.; Soltyk, W.

    1998-01-01

    This research deals with pollution impact on natural water resources in the industrial area of Belchatow, central Poland, where a large brown coal deposit is exploited and the coal is burned in an electric power plant. To trace the sources of groundwater pollutants the stable isotope analysis of oxygen and sulphur in sulphates was applied. The mass-spectrometric analysis was performed on SO 4 2- samples from numerous wells and piezometres in the excavation area. By repetitive sampling performed in November 1994, May 1995 and December 1996 significant changes of SO 4 2- concentration and sulphur and oxygen isotopic ratios in several sites were recorded. The interpretation of isotope ratios allowed us to recognize three groups of sulphates: (1) from the leaching of Permian salt dome, (2) produced by the leaching of soluble sulphates from an ash pool and (3) produced by oxidation of natural sulphides in water-bearing rocks. (author)

  7. Assessment of Bearing Capacity and Stiffness in New Steel Sets Used for Roadway Support in Coal Mines

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Renshu Yang

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available There is high demand for roadway support in coal mines for the swelling soft rocks. As high strength steel sets can be taken as an effective alternative to control large deformation in this type of rocks, based on an original set, three new sets, including a floor beam set, a roof and floor beams set, and a roof and floor beams and braces set, are proposed in this research. In order to examine the strengths of new sets, four scaled sets of one original set, and three new sets, have been manufactured and tested in loading experiments. Results indicated that three new sets all exhibited higher strength than the original set. In experiments, the roof beam in set plays a significant effect on top arch strengthening, while the floor beam plays significant effect on bottom arch strengthening. The maximum bearing capacity and stiffness of the top arch with roof beam are increased to 1.63 times and 3.06 times of those in the original set, and the maximum bearing capacity and stiffness of the bottom arch with floor beam are increased to 1.44 times and 3.55 times of those in original set. Based on the roof and floor beams, two more braces in the bottom arch also play a significant effect in bottom corners strengthening, but extra braces play little role in top arch strengthening. These new sets provide more choices for roadway support in swelling soft rocks.

  8. Sulfur-Bearing Phases Detected by Evolved Gas Analysis of the Rocknest Aeolian Deposit, Gale Crater, Mars

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mcadam, Amy Catherine; Franz, Heather Bryant

    2014-01-01

    The Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument suite detected SO2, H2S, OCS, and CS2 from approx.450 to 800 C during evolved gas analysis (EGA) of materials from the Rocknest aeolian deposit in Gale Crater, Mars. This was the first detection of evolved sulfur species from a Martian surface sample during in situ EGA. SO2(approx. 3-22 micro-mol) is consistent with the thermal decomposition of Fe sulfates or Ca sulfites, or evolution/desorption from sulfur-bearing amorphous phases. Reactions between reduced sulfur phases such as sulfides and evolved O2 or H2O in the SAM oven are another candidate SO2 source. H2S (approx.41-109 nmol) is consistent with interactions of H2O, H2 and/or HCl with reduced sulfur phases and/or SO2 in the SAM oven. OCS (approx.1-5 nmol) and CS2(approx.0.2-1 nmol) are likely derived from reactions between carbon-bearing compounds and reduced sulfur. Sulfates and sulfites indicate some aqueous interactions, although not necessarily at the Rocknest site; Fe sulfates imply interaction with acid solutions whereas Ca sulfites can form from acidic to near-neutral solutions. Sulfides in the Rocknest materials suggest input from materials originally deposited in a reducing environment or from detrital sulfides from an igneous source. The presence of sulfides also suggests that the materials have not been extensively altered by oxidative aqueous weathering. The possibility of both reduced and oxidized sulfur compounds in the deposit indicates a nonequilibrium assemblage. Understanding the sulfur mineralogy in Rocknest materials, which exhibit chemical similarities to basaltic fines analyzed elsewhere on Mars, can provide insight in to the origin and alteration history of Martian surface materials.

  9. Mineralogy and geochemistry of the No. 6 Coal (Pennsylvanian) in the Junger Coalfield, Ordos Basin, China

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dai, Shifeng [Key Laboratory of Resource Exploration Research of Hebei Province, Handan 056038 (China); Ren, Deyi; Li, Shengsheng; Jiang, Yaofa [China University of Mining and Technology, D11, Xueyuan Road, Haidian District, Beijing 100083 (China); Chou, Chen-Lin [Illinois State Geological Survey (Emeritus), 615 East Peabody Drive, Champaign, IL 61820 (United States)

    2006-04-03

    This paper discusses the mineralogy and geochemistry of the No. 6 Coal (Pennsylvanian) in the Junger Coalfield, Ordos Basin, China. The results show that the vitrinite reflectance (0.58%) is lowest and the proportions of inertinite and liptinite (37.4% and 7.1%, respectively) in the No. 6 Coal of the Junger Coalfield are highest among all of the Late Paleozoic coals in the Ordos Basin. The No. 6 Coal may be divided vertically into four sections based on their mineral compositions and elemental concentrations. A high boehmite content (mean 6.1%) was identified in the No. 6 Coal. The minerals associated with the boehmite in the coal include goyazite, rutile, zircon, and Pb-bearing minerals (galena, clausthalite, and selenio-galena). The boehmite is derived from weathered and oxidized bauxite in the weathered crust of the underlying Benxi Formation (Pennsylvanian). A high Pb-bearing mineral content of samples ZG6-2 and ZG6-3 is likely of hydrothermal origin. The No. 6 coal is enriched in Ga (44.8 {mu}g/g), Se (8.2 {mu}g/g), Sr (423 {mu}g/g), Zr (234 {mu}g/g), REEs (193.3 {mu}g/g), Hg (0.35 {mu}g/g), Pb (35.7 {mu}g/g), and Th (17.8 {mu}g/g). Gallium and Th in the No. 6 Coal mainly occur in boehmite, and the Pb-bearing selenide and sulfide minerals contribute not only to Se and Pb contents in the coal, but also probably to Hg content. A high Zr content is attributed to the presence of zircon, and Sr is related to goyazite. The REEs in the coal are supplied from the sediment-source region, and the REEs leached from the adjacent partings by groundwater. (author)

  10. Mineralogy and geochemistry of the No. 6 Coal (Pennsylvanian) in the Junger Coalfield, Ordos Basin, China

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dai, S.; Ren, D.; Chou, C.-L.; Li, S.; Jiang, Y.

    2006-01-01

    This paper discusses the mineralogy and geochemistry of the No. 6 Coal (Pennsylvanian) in the Junger Coalfield, Ordos Basin, China. The results show that the vitrinite reflectance (0.58%) is lowest and the proportions of inertinite and liptinite (37.4% and 7.1%, respectively) in the No. 6 Coal of the Junger Coalfield are highest among all of the Late Paleozoic coals in the Ordos Basin. The No. 6 Coal may be divided vertically into four sections based on their mineral compositions and elemental concentrations. A high boehmite content (mean 6.1%) was identified in the No. 6 Coal. The minerals associated with the boehmite in the coal include goyazite, rutile, zircon, and Pb-bearing minerals (galena, clausthalite, and selenio-galena). The boehmite is derived from weathered and oxidized bauxite in the weathered crust of the underlying Benxi Formation (Pennsylvanian). A high Pb-bearing mineral content of samples ZG6-2 and ZG6-3 is likely of hydrothermal origin. The No. 6 coal is enriched in Ga (44.8 ??g/g), Se (8.2 ??g/g), Sr (423 ??g/g), Zr (234 ??g/g), REEs (193.3 ??g/g), Hg (0.35 ??g/g), Pb (35.7 ??g/ g), and Th (17.8 ??g/g). Gallium and Th in the No. 6 Coal mainly occur in boehmite, and the Pb-bearing selenide and sulfide minerals contribute not only to Se and Pb contents in the coal, but also probably to Hg content. A high Zr content is attributed to the presence of zircon, and Sr is related to goyazite. The REEs in the coal are supplied from the sediment-source region, and the REEs leached from the adjacent partings by groundwater. ?? 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  11. The Late Paleozoic relative gas fields of coal measure in China and their significances on the natural gas industry

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chenchen Fang

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available The coal measure gas sources of coal-derived gas fields in the Late Paleozoic China are the Lower Carboniferous Dishuiquan Formation, the Upper Carboniferous Batamayineishan Formation and Benxi Formation, the Lower Permian Taiyuan Formation and Shanxi Formation, and the Upper Permian Longtan Formation. The coal-derived gas accumulates in Ordovician, Carboniferous, Permian, and Paleocene reservoirs and are distributed in Ordos Basin, Bohai Bay Basin, Junggar Basin, and Sichuan Basin. There are 16 gas fields and 12 of them are large gas fields such as the Sulige large gas field which is China's largest reserve with the highest annual output. According to component and alkane carbon isotope data of 99 gas samples, they are distinguished to be coal-derived gas from coal-derived gas with δ13C2 > −28.5‰ and δ13C1 -δ13C2 -δ13C3 identification chart. The Late Paleozoic relative gas fields of coal measure are significant for the Chinese natural gas industry: proven natural gas geological reserves and annual output of them account for 1/3 in China, and the gas source of three significant large gas fields is coal-derived, which of five significant large gas fields supporting China to be a great gas producing country. The average reserves of the gas fields and the large gas fields formed from the late Paleozoic coal measure are 5.3 and 1.7 times that of the gas fields and the large gas fields in China.

  12. Depositional environment of the San Miguel lignite deposit in Atascosa and McMullen Counties, Texas

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gowan, S.W.

    1985-01-01

    An analysis of the environment of deposition of the San Miguel lignite deposit was carried out in order to understand newly discovered characteristics of the deposit. The environment of deposition of the overburden and underburden was evaluated through an interpretation of three continuous cores. Four coal cores and a highwall section were carefully described to determine the depositional environmental of the coal seams and partings. These studies were supplemented by the construction of seam and parting isopachs, and the analysis of the distribution of sulfur isotopes, sulfur, forms, and total sulfur within the coal. The sedimentary package is composed of a basal prograding barrier that beach, dune, and back-barrier sands. This unit correlates with a downdip sand that was also interpreted as a prograding barrier by other authors. The barrier is overlain by a series of slit and clay deposits of lagoonal, tidal flat, and tidal channel origin. These deposits are capped by restricted lagoon sediments composed of green, calcareous clays that occasionally contain shell layers. The restricted lagoon deposits formed when the barrier closed the lagoon off from the sea. Peat forming freshwater swamps eventually became established behind the barrier and on top of the restricted lagoon sediments. The parting isopachs reveal a reticulate morphology similar to the mangrove swamps located lateral to the modern Niger River Delta. The partings represent vegetated tidal flat deposits that formed during periodic invasions by the sea that killed the swamp and inundated the peat with sulfate rich water. The lignite interval is capped by open lagoon and tidal flat sediments.

  13. Deposition of pyromagnetically-enhanced Marlboro Clay offset from spherule peak at onset of CIE and Paleocene-Eocene boundary at the midshelf Millville core site (NJ Coastal Plain)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kent, D. V.; Lanci, L.; Wang, H.; Wright, J.

    2017-12-01

    Wilson Lake B and Millville are the two core sites on the NJ Coastal Plain where an impact spherule layer was discovered at the base of the Marlboro Clay, coinciding with the onset of the carbon isotope excursion (CIE) that identifies the Paleocene-Eocene boundary (Schaller+2016 Science). At the more proximal Wilson Lake site ( 35 m paleowater depth, 20 km from the paleoshore), enhanced magnetization of the Marlboro Clay marked by a dramatic increase in concentration of submicron magnetic particles closely coincided with the sharp peak in abundance of the spherules (Kent+2017 EPSL). Discounting magnetotactic bacteria and impact plume condensate as significant sources of the magnetic nanoparticles that dominate the magnetization of the 10 m-thick Marlboro Clay, a pyrogenetic origin was postulated whereby a widespread and intense conflagration over the hinterlands, quite possibly impact-induced, produced magnetic nanoparticles in the heated soils, a process long known from wildfires and laboratory heating experiments. The pyromagnetically-enhanced kaolinite-rich soils would have been swept from the denuded landscape and deposited across the adjoining shelf, perhaps as mudwaves, to become the Marlboro Clay. The Millville site at double the paleowater depth and distance to the paleoshore compared to Wilson Lake (Makarova+2017 Paleoceanography) shows a similar enhancement in magnetization of the Marlboro Clay. However, the increase in magnetization in Millville starts well above ( 50 cm) the spherule peak and the onset of the CIE, which coincide with a sharp drop in what little carbonate content there is in the Marlboro Clay, resulting in a zone barren of foraminifers (Makarova+2017 op. cit.). The offset in deposition might be due to added barren zone or a longer transit of the soil muds to the more distant Millville site but would not be expected if the magnetic nanoparticles were produced in more direct response to the onset of the CIE, as from proliferation of

  14. Polymer Drilling Fluid with Micron-Grade Cenosphere for Deep Coal Seam

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Peng Xu

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Traditional shallow coal seam uses clean water, solid-free system, and foam system as drilling fluid, while they are not suitable for deep coal seam drilling due to mismatching density, insufficient bearing capacity, and poor reservoir protection effect. According to the existing problems of drilling fluid, micron-grade cenosphere with high bearing capacity and ultralow true density is selected as density regulator; it, together with polymer “XC + CMC” and some other auxiliary agents, is jointly used to build micron-grade polymer drilling fluid with cenosphere which is suitable for deep coal seam. Basic performance test shows that the drilling fluid has good rheological property, low filtration loss, good density adjustability, shear thinning, and thixotropy; besides, drilling fluid flow is in line with the power law rheological model. Compared with traditional drilling fluid, dispersion stability basically does not change within 26 h; settlement stability evaluated with two methods only shows a small amount of change; permeability recovery rate evaluated with Qinshui Basin deep coal seam core exceeds 80%. Polymer drilling fluid with cenosphere provides a new thought to solve the problem of drilling fluid density and pressure for deep coal seam drilling and also effectively improves the performance of reservoir protection ability.

  15. Radioactivity of coals and ash and slag wastes at coal-fired thermal power plants

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krylov, D. A.; Sidorova, G. P.

    2013-04-01

    This paper presents an analysis of published data on the content of radioactive nuclides in coals originating from various coal deposits, and in ash and slag wastes produced at coal-fired thermal power plants, as well as in fly ash emitted from thermal power plants into the atmosphere. Problems related to the use of coals with an elevated content of natural radionuclides (NRNs) and methods of their solution implemented at the Urtuyskoe coalfield are dealt with. Data on the analysis of Transbaikal coals for the NRN content, as well as weighted mean content of uranium and thorium in coals from the Siberian Region, are given. In order to reduce irradiation of plant personnel and the population of the areas where coal producers and coal-fired thermal power plants are located, it is necessary to organize very careful control of the NRN content in both coals and products of their combustion that are released into the environment. To solve the problem related to the control of radioactivity, the centralized approach and creation of a proper normative base are needed. Experience gained in developing the Urtuyskoe coalfield shows that it is possible to create an efficient system of coal quality control with respect to the radiation hygiene factor and provide protection of the environment and health of the population.

  16. Novel Microbial Assemblages Dominate Weathered Sulfide-Bearing Rock from Copper-Nickel Deposits in the Duluth Complex, Minnesota, USA.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jones, Daniel S; Lapakko, Kim A; Wenz, Zachary J; Olson, Michael C; Roepke, Elizabeth W; Sadowsky, Michael J; Novak, Paige J; Bailey, Jake V

    2017-08-15

    The Duluth Complex in northeastern Minnesota hosts economically significant deposits of copper, nickel, and platinum group elements (PGEs). The primary sulfide mineralogy of these deposits includes the minerals pyrrhotite, chalcopyrite, pentlandite, and cubanite, and weathering experiments show that most sulfide-bearing rock from the Duluth Complex generates moderately acidic leachate (pH 4 to 6). Microorganisms are important catalysts for metal sulfide oxidation and could influence the quality of water from mines in the Duluth Complex. Nevertheless, compared with that of extremely acidic environments, much less is known about the microbial ecology of moderately acidic sulfide-bearing mine waste, and so existing information may have little relevance to those microorganisms catalyzing oxidation reactions in the Duluth Complex. Here, we characterized the microbial communities in decade-long weathering experiments (kinetic tests) conducted on crushed rock and tailings from the Duluth Complex. Analyses of 16S rRNA genes and transcripts showed that differences among microbial communities correspond to pH, rock type, and experimental treatment. Moreover, microbial communities from the weathered Duluth Complex rock were dominated by taxa that are not typically associated with acidic mine waste. The most abundant operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were from the genera Meiothermus and Sulfuriferula , as well as from diverse clades of uncultivated Chloroflexi , Acidobacteria , and Betaproteobacteria Specific taxa, including putative sulfur-oxidizing Sulfuriferula spp., appeared to be primarily associated with Duluth Complex rock, but not pyrite-bearing rocks subjected to the same experimental treatment. We discuss the implications of these results for the microbial ecology of moderately acidic mine waste with low sulfide content, as well as for kinetic testing of mine waste. IMPORTANCE Economic sulfide mineral deposits in the Duluth Complex may represent the largest

  17. Fiscal 1985 research report. Feasibility study on overseas coal mine development (La Loma coal field, Cesar province, Columbia); 1985 nendo kaigaitan kaihatsu kanosei chosa hokokusho. Columbia Censar shu La Loma tanden

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1995-12-01

    Tomen Corp. was proposed in April 1985 to join in the additional exploration of La Loma mine lot in 1986 through Greenley Co. in America, one of the members of Siminera- Greenley Association which has promoted the survey and exploration of La Loma coal mine lot (20,000ha), Cesar province, Columbia since 1979. In answer to this proposal, Tomen obtained the fiscal 1985 feasibility study subsidy for foreign coal development, and made surveys on the coal seam, coal property, coal deposit, recoverable deposit and profitability of La Loma coal field including La Loma coal mine lot, and further surveys on infrastructure improvement for the future coal development, the policy of Columbian government and various laws concerned. Based on the above survey results, for assessment of this coal field, Tomen Corp. made field survey on the coal field and infrastructures, document collection and hearing from Columbian and U.S. governments and companies, further collection of other documents concerned and information, and analysis of the survey results. As a result, the assessment of La Loma coal field was completed. (NEDO)

  18. Isotopic and chemical characterization of coal in Pakistan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Qureshi, R.M.; Hasany, S.M.; Javed, T.; Sajjad, M.I.; Shah, Z.; Rehman, H.

    1993-11-01

    Stable carbon isotope ratios (delta/sup 13/C PDB) and toxic/trace element concentration levels are determined for Tertiary coal samples collected from seven coal fields in Pakistan. No systematic isotope effects are found in the process of coal liquefaction from peat to Tertiary lignites and sub bituminous coal. Similarly, no age effects are observed during the Tertiary regime. The observed variations in the carbon isotopic composition of coal obtained from 'Sharigh coal field' and the 'Sor-Range/Degari coal field' in Baluchistan are attributed to the depositional environments. More sampling of stable carbon isotope analysis are required to validate these observations. Significant concentrations of toxic elements such as S, Cr, Cd and Pb in Makarwal coal may pose environmental and engineering/operational problems for thermal power plants. (author)

  19. Mineralogical and geochemical characterization of the Jurassic coal from Egypt

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Baioumy, H.M. [Central Metallurgical Research and Development Institute, Cairo (Egypt)

    2009-06-15

    The Jurassic coal deposit in the Maghara area, Sinai, Egypt contains at least 11 coal seams of lenticular shape. The thickness of the main coal seams ranges from 130 cm to 2 m and are underlain and overlain by thin black shale beds. Mineralogical analysis indicated that this coal is characterized by low mineral matter with traces of quartz in some samples. However, coal ash is made up of quartz with traces of calcite, anhydrite, and hematite. Analysis of coal rank parameters indicated that the Maghara coal can be classified as medium volatile bituminous coal. The high sulfur contents and the relatively high proportion of pyritic sulfur suggest a possible marine transgression after the deposition of precursor peat. This interpretation is supported by the relatively high B contents. The relatively high Ge in the Maghara coal could be attributed to an infiltration of Ge enriched water from the surrounding siliceous sediments probably during diagenesis. The high Au contents were contributed to an Au-rich provenance of the ash contents of this coal. Rare earth elements geochemistry indicated low concentrations of these elements with slight enrichment of light rare earth elements (LREEs), slight negative Eu anomaly, and relatively flat heavy rare earth elements (HREEs) patterns. The low contents of trace and rare earth elements, particularly those with environmental relevance, compared to the usual concentration ranges in worldwide coal gives an advantage for this coal.

  20. Coal: a revival for France?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Brones, W.

    2007-01-01

    All energy consumption forecasts indicate a world production peak of fossil fuels around 2030 followed by a rapid decline. The oil peak should probably occur earlier. In this context the huge worldwide reserves of coal represent a fantastic opportunity to meet the world power demand which should double between 2002 and 2030 with in particular a huge growth in China and India. If promising alternate technologies (coal liquefaction..) exist which would allow to replace petroleum by coal, the main question remains the management of CO 2 . Capture and sequestration techniques are already implemented and tested and the search for new coal deposits is going on, in particular in France in the Nievre area. Economic studies about the profitability of coal exploitation in France stress on the socio-economical advantage that a revival of this activity would represent, in particular in terms of employment. (J.S.)

  1. Thar coal exploration : a radical view

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Khan, N.A.

    1996-01-01

    Pakistan needs a manpower intensive technology to utilize its immense human resource. This human resource, however, has low literacy rate and thus lower skills and therefore there is a requirement of visualizing an employment technique compatible with the human resource. The vast coal deposits at Thar Coal Field provide an opportunity for development of low cost coal mining technique utilizing this manpower. Our history is filled with examples of effective utilization of human resources in the recent past. 300 years ago a few Muslim Emperors of the subcontinents constructed 40 meters deep wells, by utilizing human power only, to reach drinking water deep down, now in 2000 AD, can we go down 120 meters to dig the coal in Thar Coal Field by utilizing much enlarged manpower? (author)

  2. Liquid fuels from Canadian coals

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Taylor, G. W.

    1979-06-15

    In Canadian energy planning, the central issue of security of supply must be addressed by developing flexible energy systems that make the best possible use of available resources. For liquid fuel production, oil sands and heavy oil currently appear more attractive than coal or biomass as alternatives to conventional crude oil, but the magnitude of their economic advantage is uncertain. The existence of large resources of oil sands, heavy oils, natural gas and low-sulfur coals in Western Canada creates a unique opportunity for Canadians to optimize the yield from these resources and develop new technology. Many variations on the three basic liquefaction routes - hydroliquefaction, pyrolysis and synthesis - are under investigation around the world, and the technology is advancing rapidly. Each process has merit under certain circumstances. Surface-mineable subbituminous and lignite coals of Alberta and Saskatchewan appear to offer the best combination of favorable properties, deposit size and mining cost, but other deposits in Alberta, Nova Scotia and British Columbia should not be ruled out. The research effort in Canada is small by world standards, but it is unlikely that technology could be imported that is ideally suited to Canadian conditions. Importing technology is undesirable: innovation or process modification to suit Canadian coals and markets is preferred; coprocessing of coal liquids with bitumen or heavy oils would be a uniquely Canadian, exportable technology. The cost of synthetic crude from coal in Canada is uncertain, estimates ranging from $113 to $220/m/sup 3/ ($18 to $35/bbl). Existing economic evaluations vary widely depending on assumptions, and can be misleading. Product quality is an important consideration.

  3. Contemporary flowstone development links early hominin bearing cave deposits in South Africa

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pickering, Robyn; Kramers, Jan D.; Hancox, Philip John; de Ruiter, Darryl J.; Woodhead, Jon D.

    2011-06-01

    The Cradle of Humankind cave sites in South Africa preserve fossil evidence of four early hominin taxa: Australopithecus africanus, Australopithecus sediba, Paranthropus robustus and early Homo. In order to integrate this record into a pan-African scenario of human evolutionary history it is critical to have reliable dates and temporal ranges for the southern African hominins. In the past a lack of precise and accurate chronological data has prevented the evaluation of the temporal relationships between the various sites. Here we report new uranium-lead (U-Pb) radiometric ages obtained from sheets of calcium carbonate flowstone inter-bedded between clastic cave sediments at the site of Swartkrans, providing bracketing ages for the fossiliferous deposits. The fossil bearing units of Swartkrans, specifically the Hanging Remnant and Lower Bank of Member 1, are underlain by flowstone layers dated to 2.25 ± 0.05 Ma and 2.25 ± 0.08 Ma and capped by layers of 1.8 ± 0.01 Ma and 1.7 ± 0.07 Ma. The age bracket of the Member 1 deposits is therefore between 2.31 and 1.64 Ma. However, by combining the U-Pb with biostratigraphic data we suggest that this can be narrowed down to between 1.9 and 1.8 Ma. These data can be compared with other recently dated sites and a radiometrically dated U-Pb age sequence formed: Sterkfontein Member 4, Swartkrans Member 1, Malapa, and Cooper's D. From this new U-Pb dataset, a pattern of contemporary flowstone development emerges, with different caves recording the same flowstone-forming event. Specifically overlapping flowstone formation takes place at Swartkrans and Sterkfontein at ~ 2.29 Ma and ~ 1.77 Ma, and at Sterkfontein and Malapa at ˜ 2.02 Ma. This suggests a regional control over the nature and timing of speleothem development in cave deposits and these flowstone layers could assist in future correlation, both internal to specific deposits and regionally between sites.

  4. Coal and petroleum resources in the Appalachian basin: index maps of included studies: Chapter B.1 in Coal and petroleum resources in the Appalachian basin: distribution, geologic framework, and geochemical character

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ruppert, Leslie F.; Trippi, Michael H.; Kinney, Scott A.; Ruppert, Leslie F.; Ryder, Robert T.

    2014-01-01

    This chapter B.1 of U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Professional Paper 1708 provides index maps for many of the studies described in other chapters of the report. Scientists of the USGS and State geological surveys studied coal and petroleum resources in the central and southern Appalachian structural basins. In the southern Appalachian basin, studies focused on the coal-bearing parts of the Black Warrior basin in Alabama. The scientists used new and existing geologic data sets to create a common spatial geologic framework for the fossil-fuel-bearing strata of the central Appalachian basin and the Black Warrior basin in Alabama.

  5. The World Coal Quality Inventory: South America

    Science.gov (United States)

    Karlsen, Alex W.; Tewalt, Susan J.; Bragg, Linda J.; Finkelman, Robert B.

    2006-01-01

    Executive Summary-Introduction: The concepts of a global environment and economy are strongly and irrevocably linked to global energy issues. Worldwide coal production and international coal trade are projected to increase during the next several decades in an international energy mix that is still strongly dependent on fossil fuels. Therefore, worldwide coal use will play an increasingly visible role in global environmental, economic, and energy forums. Policy makers require information on coal, including coal quality data, to make informed decisions regarding domestic coal resource allocation, import needs and export opportunities, foreign policy objectives, technology transfer policies, foreign investment prospects, environmental and health assessments, and byproduct use and disposal issues. The development of a worldwide, reliable, coal quality database would help ensure the most economically and environmentally efficient global use of coal. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with many agencies and scientists from the world's coal producing countries, originally undertook a project to obtain representative samples of coal from most of the world's producing coal provinces during a limited period of time (roughly 1998-2005), which is called the World Coal Quality Inventory (WoCQI). The multitude of producing coal mines, coal occurrences, or limited accessibility to sites in some countries can preclude collecting more than a single sample from a mine. In some areas, a single sample may represent an entire coal mining region or basin. Despite these limitations in sampling and uneven distribution of sample collection, the analytical results can still provide a general overview of world coal quality. The USGS intends to present the WoCQI data in reports and, when possible, in Geographic Information System (GIS) products that cover important coal bearing and producing regions.

  6. Abundances of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in 14 chinese and american coals and their relation to coal rank and weathering

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, R.; Liu, Gaisheng; Zhang, Jiahua; Chou, C.-L.; Liu, J.

    2010-01-01

    The abundances of 16 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) on the priority list of the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) have been determined in 14 Chinese and American coals. The ranks of the samples range from lignite, bituminous coal, anthracite, to natural coke. Soxhlet extraction was conducted on each coal for 48 h. The extract was analyzed on a gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer (GC-MS). The results show that the total PAH content ranged from 0.31 to 57.6 ??g/g of coal (on a dry basis). It varied with coal rank and is highest in the maturity range of bituminous coal rank. High-molecular-weight (HMW) PAHs are predominant in low-rank coals, but low-molecular-weight (LMW) PAHs are predominant in high-rank coals. The low-sulfur coals have a higher PAH content than high-sulfur coals. It may be explained by an increasing connection between disulfide bonds and PAHs in high-sulfur coal. In addition, it leads us to conclude that the PAH content of coals may be related to the depositional environment. ?? 2010 American Chemical Society.

  7. Report on information collection and analysis for fundamental survey on coal resource development in fiscal 1998. Survey on coal supply potentiality in Bowen Basin in Australia; 1998 nendo sekitan shigen kaihatsu kiso chosa joho shushu kaiseki hokokusho. Goshu Bowen bonchi sekitan kyokyu potentiality chosa

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1999-03-01

    A survey was made on coal supply potentiality in Bowen Basin in Australia. The main coal beds exist in the order of four beds in the Permian period. The oldest bed is the Reids Dome bed in the Lower Permian period, deposited in the south-west part of the basin. The later wide-area transgression has caused the Back Creek bed groups to deposit, whereas three coal measures have deposited in a concave on the raised basic bed. Later, the ocean has invaded into the entire basin. After having turned into the Upper Permian period, regression had occurred from north to south, where major coal measures such as the Moranbah and German Creek beds had deposited over the entire basin. Further regression has taken place to south, causing three uppermost coal measures to have deposited over the entire basin. In major part of the areas identified currently with existence of coal measures, and even in areas without mines, the mining right or the exploration right has been established, limiting the areas having development potentiality. Five abandoned mining areas exist in the Rangal coal measure, two in the Moranbah coal measure, two in the Reids Dome coal measure, and one in the Baralaba coal measure. There is a possibility of discovering areas developable for a scale of several ten million tons. (NEDO)

  8. Coal reserves and resources as well as potentials for underground coal gasification in connection with carbon capture and storage (CCS)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ilse, Jürgen

    2010-05-01

    Coal is the energy source with the largest geological availability worldwide. Of all non-renewable energies coal and lignite accounting for 55 % of the reserves and some 76 % of the resources represent the largest potential. Reserves are those geological quantities of a mineral which can currently be mined under technically and economically viable conditions. Resources are those quantities which are either proven but currently not economically recoverable or quantities which can still be expected or explored on the basis of geological findings. The global availability of energy source does not only depend on geological and economic factors. The technical availability, e.g. mining and preparation capacities, the sufficient availability of land and sea-borne transportation as well as transloading capacities and also a political availability are required likewise. The latter may be disturbed by domestic-policy disputes like strikes or unrest or by foreign-policy disputes like embargos, trade conflicts or even tensions and wars in the producing regions. In the energy-economic discussion the reach of fossil primary energies plays a central role with the most important questions being: when will which energy source be exhausted, which impact will future developments have on the energy price, what does the situation of the other energies look like and which alternatives are there? The reach of coal can only be estimated because of the large deposits on the one hand and the uncertain future coal use and demand on the other. The stronger growth of population and the economic catching-up process in the developing and threshold countries will result in a shift of the production and demand centres in the global economy. However, also in case of further increases the geological potential will be sufficient to reliably cover the global coal demand for the next 100 years. The conventional mining of seams at great depths or of thin seams reaches its technical and economic limits

  9. Direct U-Pb dating of Cretaceous and Paleocene dinosaur bones, San Juan Basin, New Mexico: COMMENT

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koenig, Alan E.; Lucas, Spencer G.; Neymark, Leonid A.; Heckert, Andrew B.; Sullivan, Robert M.; Jasinski, Steven E.; Fowler, Denver W.

    2012-01-01

    Based on U-Pb dating of two dinosaur bones from the San Juan Basin of New Mexico (United States), Fassett et al. (2011) claim to provide the first successful direct dating of fossil bones and to establish the presence of Paleocene dinosaurs. Fassett et al. ignore previously published work that directly questions their stratigraphic interpretations (Lucas et al., 2009), and fail to provide sufficient descriptions of instrumental, geochronological, and statistical treatments of the data to allow evaluation of the potentially complex diagenetic and recrystallization history of bone. These shortcomings lead us to question the validity of the U-Pb dates published by Fassett et al. and their conclusions regarding the existence of Paleocene dinosaurs.

  10. Revised magnetic polarity time scale for the Paleocene and early Eocene and implications for Pacific plate motion

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Butler, R.F.; Coney, P.J.

    1981-01-01

    Magnetostratiographic studies of a continental sedimentary sequence in the Clark's Fork Basin, Wyoming and a marine sedimentary sequence at Gubbio, Italy indicate that the Paleocene--Eocene boundary occurs just stratigraphically above normal polarity zones correlative with magnetic anomaly 25 chron. These data indicate that the older boundary of anomaly 24 chron is 52.5 Ma. This age is younger than the late Paleocene age assigned by LaBrecque et al. [1977] and also younger than the basal Eocene age assigned by Ness et al. [1980]. A revised magnetic polarity time scale for the Paleocene and early Eocene is presented in this paper. Several changes in the relative motion system between the Pacific plate and neighboring plates occurred in the interval between anomaly 24 and anomaly 21. A major change in absolute motion of the Pacific plate is indicated by the bend in the Hawaiian--Emperor Seamount chain at approx.43 Ma. The revised magnetic polarity time scale indicates that the absolute motion change lags the relative motion changes by only approx.3--5 m.y. rather than by >10 m.y. as indicated by previous polarity time scales

  11. Sedimentological reservoir characteristics of the Paleocene fluvial/lacustrine Yabus Sandstone, Melut Basin, Sudan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mahgoub, M. I.; Padmanabhan, E.; Abdullatif, O. M.

    2016-11-01

    Melut Basin in Sudan is regionally linked to the Mesozoic-Cenozoic Central and Western African Rift System (CWARS). The Paleocene Yabus Formation is the main oil producing reservoir in the basin. It is dominated by channel sandstone and shales deposited in fluvial/lacustrine environment during the third phase of rifting in the basin. Different scales of sedimentological heterogeneities influenced reservoir quality and architecture. The cores and well logs analyses revealed seven lithofacies representing fluvial, deltaic and lacustrine depositional environments. The sandstone is medium to coarse-grained, poorly to moderately-sorted and sub-angular to sub-rounded, arkosic-subarkosic to sublitharenite. On the basin scale, the Yabus Formation showed variation in sandstone bodies, thickness, geometry and architecture. On macro-scale, reservoir quality varies vertically and laterally within Yabus Sandstone where it shows progressive fining upward tendencies with different degrees of connectivity. The lower part of the reservoir showed well-connected and amalgamated sandstone bodies, the middle to the upper parts, however, have moderate to low sandstone bodies' connectivity and amalgamation. On micro-scale, sandstone reservoir quality is directly affected by textures and diagenetic changes such as compaction, cementation, alteration, dissolution and kaolinite clays pore fill and coat all have significantly reduced the reservoir porosity and permeability. The estimated porosity in Yabus Formation ranges from 2 to 20% with an average of 12%; while permeability varies from 200 to 500 mD and up to 1 Darcy. The understanding of different scales of sedimentological reservoir heterogeneities might contribute to better reservoir quality prediction, architecture, consequently enhancing development and productivity.

  12. The problem with coal-waste dumps inventory in Upper Silesian Coal Basin

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abramowicz, Anna; Chybiorz, Ryszard

    2017-04-01

    Coal-waste dumps are the side effect of coal mining, which has lasted in Poland for 250 years. They have negative influence on the landscape and the environment, and pollute soil, vegetation and groundwater. Their number, size and shape is changing over time, as new wastes have been produced and deposited changing their shape and enlarging their size. Moreover deposited wastes, especially overburned, are exploited for example road construction, also causing the shape and size change up to disappearing. Many databases and inventory systems were created in order to control these hazards, but some disadvantages prevent reliable statistics. Three representative databases were analyzed according to their structure and type of waste dumps description, classification and visualization. The main problem is correct classification of dumps in terms of their name and type. An additional difficulty is the accurate quantitative description (area and capacity). A complex database was created as a result of comparison, verification of the information contained in existing databases and its supplementation based on separate documentation. A variability analysis of coal-waste dumps over time is also included. The project has been financed from the funds of the Leading National Research Centre (KNOW) received by the Centre for Polar Studies for the period 2014-2018.

  13. Hydrology of area 52, Rocky Mountain coal province Wyoming, Colorado, Idaho, and Utah

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lowham, H.W.; Peterson, D.A.; Larson, L.R.; Zimmerman, E.A.; Ringen, B.H.; Mora, K.L.

    1985-01-01

    This report is one of a series designed to characterize the hydrology of drainage basins within coal provinces, nationwide. Area 52 (in the Rocky Mountain Coal Province) includes the Green River Basin upstream from the Yampa River, and the Bear River upstream from the Bear Lake - a total of 23,870 sq mi. Area 52 contains over 3 billion tons of strippable coal, most of which is located in the arid and semiarid plains. The report represents a summary of results of the water resources investigations of the U.S. Geological Survey, carried out in cooperation with State and other Federal agencies. More than 40 individual topics are discussed in a brief text that is accompanied by maps, graphs, photographs, and other illustrations. Primary topics in the report are: general features, resources and economy, surface-water quantity and quality, and groundwater. (USGS)

  14. Consequences of coal mining and burning in the North Bohemian Brown Coal Basin (2). Territorial consequences of coal mining

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stahlik, Z.

    1992-01-01

    Out of the 1450 km 2 of the North Bohemian Brown Coal Basin, the area of the coal-bearing territory is 850 km 2 . The area occupied by the open pits, spoil banks and mines is nearly 27O km 2 , out of which over 90 km 2 have already been recultivated. Predicted mining development scenarios for the region till 2035 are outlined. The extent of mining will decrease gradually, and land will be reclaimed. The abandoned pits will be filled with water and employed for recreation purposes. The specific features of the individual open pit mines are given. The ways to reduce the adverse environmental impacts of mining are outlined; these include, in particular, desulfurization of existing power plants on the one hand, and energy savings associated with a reduction in mining and power generation activities on the other hand. (J.B.)

  15. Application of the surface reflection seismic method to shallow coal exploration in the plains of Alberta

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lyatsky, H.V.; Lawton, D.C. (University of Victoria, Victoria, BC (Canada). Dept. of Physics and Astronomy)

    1988-12-01

    A study was done to make a quantitative interpretation of reflection seismic data from the Highvale-Whitewood shallow coal deposit in central Alberta. Results showed that the data is useful in demonstrating coal thickness and stratigraphy as well as structural formation. Reflection character is affected by nature of the strata surrounding the coal deposit. 22 refs., 1 tab., 23 figs.

  16. Report on the FY 1987 potential survey of overseas coal development. Nanaimo coal field, Vancouver island, State of British Columbia, Canada; 1987 nendo kaigaitan kaihatsu kanosei chosa hokokusho. Canada British Columbia shu Vancouver to Nanaimo tanden

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1988-03-01

    In Vancouver island, coal deposits which are economically minable can be found only in Comox sub-basin and Nanaimo sub-basin. In the Nanaimo coal field, 110 coal deposits have been operated, and a total of 54.39 million MT coal was drilled and shipped. The coal reserve of approximately 90 million MT seems to be still left, but it is hard to know how much the minable coal is in the case only of within 300m below earth's surface. In the Comox coal field, there seems to be still left the coal reserve as much as approximately 1.3 billion MT. The coal of the Nanaimo coal field is ranked as high volatile 'A' bituminous, the same as the coal of the Comox coal field. In the Wolf Mountain coal mining area, there is the minable coal of approximately 2.4 million MT in the undeveloped portion. The clean coal to be produced came to be regarded as good for shipment to Japan not only as steam coal but as slightly caking coal if it is competitive in cost as viewed from the coal quality expected. (NEDO)

  17. Report on the FY 1987 potential survey of overseas coal development. Nanaimo coal field, Vancouver island, State of British Columbia, Canada; 1987 nendo kaigaitan kaihatsu kanosei chosa hokokusho. Canada British Columbia shu Vancouver to Nanaimo tanden

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1988-03-01

    In Vancouver island, coal deposits which are economically minable can be found only in Comox sub-basin and Nanaimo sub-basin. In the Nanaimo coal field, 110 coal deposits have been operated, and a total of 54.39 million MT coal was drilled and shipped. The coal reserve of approximately 90 million MT seems to be still left, but it is hard to know how much the minable coal is in the case only of within 300m below earth's surface. In the Comox coal field, there seems to be still left the coal reserve as much as approximately 1.3 billion MT. The coal of the Nanaimo coal field is ranked as high volatile 'A' bituminous, the same as the coal of the Comox coal field. In the Wolf Mountain coal mining area, there is the minable coal of approximately 2.4 million MT in the undeveloped portion. The clean coal to be produced came to be regarded as good for shipment to Japan not only as steam coal but as slightly caking coal if it is competitive in cost as viewed from the coal quality expected. (NEDO)

  18. Climate control on Quaternary coal fires and landscape evolution, Powder River basin, Wyoming and Montana

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Riihimaki, C.A.; Reiners, P.W.; Heffern, E.L. [Drew University, Madison, NJ (USA). Dept. of Biology

    2009-03-15

    Late Cenozoic stream incision and basin excavation have strongly influenced the modern Rocky Mountain landscape, but constraints on the timing and rates of erosion are limited. The geology of the Powder River basin provides an unusually good opportunity to address spatial and temporal patterns of stream incision. Numerous coal seams in the Paleocene Fort Union and Eocene Wasatch Formations within the basin have burned during late Cenozoic incision, as coal was exposed to dry and oxygen-rich near-surface conditions. The topography of this region is dominated by hills capped with clinker, sedimentary rocks metamorphosed by burning of underlying coal beds. We use (U-Th)/He ages of clinker to determine times of relatively rapid erosion, with the assumption that coal must be near Earth's surface to burn. Ages of 55 in situ samples range from 0.007 to 1.1 Ma. Clinker preferentially formed during times in which eccentricity of the Earth's orbit was high, times that typically but not always correlate with interglacial periods. Our data therefore suggest that rates of landscape evolution in this region are affected by climate fluctuations. Because the clinker ages correlate better with eccentricity time series than with an oxygen isotope record of global ice volume, we hypothesize that variations in solar insolation modulated by eccentricity have a larger impact on rates of landscape evolution in this region than do glacial-interglacial cycles.

  19. Wear-resistant ball bearings for space applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boving, H.; Hintermann, H. E.; Hanni, W.; Bondivenne, E.; Boeto, M.; Conde, E.

    1977-01-01

    Ball bearings consisting of steel parts of which the rings are coated with hard, wear resistant, chemical vapor deposited TiC are described. Experiments conducted in ultrahigh vacuum, using cages of various materials with self-lubricating properties, show that such bearings are suitable for space applications. The results of laboratory tests on the ESA Meteosat Radiometer Focalizing mechanism, which contains six coated bearings, are summarized.

  20. Fuel briquettes from brown coals of Yakutia

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    L.A. Nikolaeva; V.G. Latyshev; O.N. Burenina [Russian Academy of Sciences, Yakutsk (Russian Federation). Institute of Oil and Gas Problems

    2009-04-15

    Experimental data on the development of technology for the manufacture of briquetted fuel from brown coals with the use of various petroleum binders are presented. The influence of the moisture content, the coal particle-size composition, the binder type and concentration, the compacting pressure, and heat treatment regimes on the mechanical properties of the materials was studied. The optimal compositions and optimal values of the engineering parameters for the production of graded briquetted fuel from brown coals of the Kangalassy deposit in the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) were established.

  1. SPHERICAL MICROPARTICLES FROM GOLD–BEARING QUARTZ VEINS OF THE IROKINDA DEPOSIT, WESTERN TRANSBAIKALIA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. V. Tatarinov

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available We have studied the material composition of ore microparticles extracted from gold concentrates of operating quartz vein No. 30 located in the Irokinda deposit, Western Transbaikalia. We consider the origin of such microparticles in connection with our observation data and the previously published structural and geological features revealed in formation of the ore field, as well as tectonophysical conditions of formation of many gold-bearing quartz veins, including vein No. 30.Gold-quartz veins, located in the allochthonous plate thrusted onto the Kelyano-Irokinda belt (Fig. 1, infill the NE-striking fault zones. E.A. Namolov conducted the tectonophysical analysis of the “elementary fracture – ore-bearing suture/joint” system, which provided a genetic explanation of the morphology of ore quartz veins (including vein No. 30 and conditions for formation of their host fault zones. Ore-bearing fractures are combinations of shear and cleavage cracks that occur in case of certain positions of the strain ellipsoid in conditions of horizontal compression. Due to repeated intra-mineralization displacements, the texture of the ores is strappy, and the quartz matrix of the veins contains numerous inclusions of host rocks.The spherical particles have zonal structures and consist of metal nodes and external continuous or discontinuous shells, which thickness ranges from 10 to 400 microns (Fig. 2, Fig. 3. The nodes are composed mainly of native Fe with admixtures of Fe, Mn, Al (Table, the contents of which are typically less than 1.0–1.5 wt %.Characteristic features of the mineral composition of shells of the spheroidal microparticles:– The widespread graphite matrix consisting of minerals of different classes, except for native;– Pyrite in the group of ore oxides of Fe, Mn, Cr, Ti;– A large group of carbonate minerals;– Feldspars and natrosilite among silicates;– The mineral with CaBr2 composition;– Mono-mineral quartz rims

  2. Ash Deposit Formation and Deposit Properties. A Comprehensive Summary of Research Conducted at Sandia's Combustion Research Facility

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Larry L. Baxter

    2000-08-01

    This report summarizes experimental and theoretical work performed at Sandia's Combustion Research Facility over the past eight years on the fate of inorganic material during coal combustion. This work has been done under four broad categories: coal characterization, fly ash formation, ash deposition, and deposit property development. The objective was to provide sufficient understanding of these four areas to be able to predict coal behavior in current and advanced conversion systems. This work has led to new characterization techniques for fuels that provide, for the first time, systematic and species specific information regarding the inorganic material. The transformations of inorganic material during combustion can be described in terms of the net effects of the transformations of these individual species. Deposit formation mechanisms provide a framework for predicting deposition rates for abroad range of particle sizes. Predictions based on these rates many times are quite accurate although there are important exceptions. A rigorous framework for evaluating deposit has been established. Substantial data have been obtained with which to exercise this framework, but this portion of the work is less mature than is any other. Accurate prediction of deposit properties as functions of fuel properties, boiler design, and boiler operating conditions represents the single most critical area where additional research is needed.

  3. Source contributions to airborne particle deposition at the Yungang Grottoes, China

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Salmon, Lynn G.; Christoforou, Christos S.; Gerk, Timothy J.; Cass, Glen R. [Environmental Engineering Science Department and Environmental Quality Laboratory, California Institute of Technology Pasadena, CA (United States); Casuccio, Gary S.; Cooke, Gary A.; Leger, Michael [R.J. Lee Group, Inc., Monroeville, PA (United States); Olmez, Ilhan [Nuclear Reactor Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge, MA (United States)

    1995-04-28

    The Buddhist cave temple complex at Yungang in northern China is affected by a rapid accumulation of airborne particles that settle onto the thousands of statues contained within those caves. Experiments have been conducted to identify the most important air pollution sources that contribute to the dust deposition problem. The spatial distribution of the deposition rate of airborne particles within a 2 km x 2 km area surrounding the grottoes was measured during a 2-day period in April, 1991. Peak particle deposition rates of >60 {mu}g m{sup -2} s{sup -1} were found at locations within the village of Yungang itself and along the adjacent coal-haul highway. Moving away from the village and coal-haul highway, deposition rates decline to much lower values, indicating that the village and highway are significant sources of airborne particles. A comparison of the mineralogical composition of the dust deposits in the caves with the composition of local soil dust, paved road dust from the coal-haul highway and deteriorated cave ceiling rock material indicates that the dust deposits in the caves are a combination of the above sources, with the paved road dust from the coal-haul highway providing the closest match to the largest quantity of the material deposited in the caves

  4. The age, palaeoclimate, palaeovegetation, coal seam architecture/mire types, paleodepositional environments and thermal maturity of syn-collision paralic coal from Mukah, Sarawak, Malaysia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sia, Say-Gee; Abdullah, Wan Hasiah; Konjing, Zainey; Koraini, Ahmad Munif

    2014-02-01

    The Mukah coal accumulated in the Balingian Formation where the time-stratigraphic position is poorly defined by fauna, though a probable Late Miocene age has always been assigned to this formation. Samples collected in the present study that yielded an abundance of Casuarina pollen associated with occurrences of Dacrydium, Stenochlaena palustris, Florschuetzia levipoli and also Stenochlaena areolaris spores, compare closely to zone PR9 of the palynological zonation of the Malay Basin, and can be tied to depositional sequences of Malay Basin Seismic sequences I2000/I3000, indicating an Early Miocene age for the studied coal. The Early Miocene age shows that the Mukah coal was formed during the collision between Luconia Block-Dangerous Grounds with the Borneo that lasted from Late Eocene to late Early Miocene. The rapid increase of deposition base-level caused by the collision is clearly reflected by the architecture of the Mukah coal seams that were generally thin, and also by the reverse order of the paleo-peat bodies.

  5. Clean coal use in China: Challenges and policy implications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tang, Xu; Snowden, Simon; McLellan, Benjamin C.; Höök, Mikael

    2015-01-01

    Energy consumption in China is currently dominated by coal, a major source of air pollution and carbon emissions. The utilization of clean coal technologies is a likely strategic choice for China at present, however, although there have been many successes in clean coal technologies worldwide, they are not widely used in China. This paper examines the challenges that China faces in the implementation of such clean coal technologies, where the analysis shows that those drivers that have a negative bearing on the utilization of clean coal in China are mainly non-technical factors such as the low legal liability of atmospheric pollution related to coal use, and the lack of laws and mandatory regulations for clean coal use in China. Policies for the development of clean coal technologies are in their early stages in China, and the lack of laws and detailed implementation requirements for clean coal require resolution in order to accelerate China's clean coal developments. Currently, environmental pollution has gained widespread attention from the wider Chinese populace and taking advantage of this opportunity provides a space in which to regain the initiative to raise people’s awareness of clean coal products, and improve enterprises’ enthusiasm for clean coal. - Highlights: • Clean coal is not widely used in China due to many management issues. • Legal liability of pollution related with coal utilization is too low in China. • China is lack of laws and mandatory regulations for clean coal utilization. • It is difficult to accelerate clean coal utilization by incentive subsidies alone.

  6. Synfuels from low-rank coals at the Great Plains Gasification Plant

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pollock, D.

    1992-01-01

    This presentation focuses on the use of low rank coals to form synfuels. A worldwide abundance of low rank coals exists. Large deposits in the United States are located in Texas and North Dakota. Low rank coal deposits are also found in Europe, India and Australia. Because of the high moisture content of lignite ranging from 30% to 60% or higher, it is usually utilized in mine mouth applications. Lignite is generally very reactive and contains varying amounts of ash and sulfur. Typical uses for lignite are listed. A commercial application using lignite as feedstock to a synfuels plant, Dakota Gasification Company's Great Plains Gasification Plant, is discussed

  7. Cross fertilization: a means of obtaining a better performing breed of investigator

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Creelman, R.A. [R.A. Creelman and Associates, Epping, NSW (Australia)

    2000-07-01

    Coals in a Queensland coal deposit have high iron in ash contents. These are high enough to indicate, on the basis of Ash Fusion tests and slagging indices, that they are slagging coals. However, in practice, these coals do not produce problem deposits in test furnaces. Previous investigations into the mineralogy of the mineral matter in these coals were unable to detect the presence of any quantities of iron bearing minerals. X-ray diffraction showed the presence of chlorite (with iron bonded with alumino-silicate) which is usually area in coals. A second case study showed the importance of smectite in determining the use of coal in coal-water mixtures. 15 figs., 2 tabs.

  8. LOCAL IMPACTS OF MERCURY EMISSIONS FROM COAL FIRED POWER PLANTS.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    SULLIVAN, T.M.; BOWERMAN, B.; ADAMS, J.; LIPFERT, D.D.; MORRIS, S.M.; BANDO, A.; ET AL.

    2004-03-30

    A thorough quantitative understanding of the processes of mercury emissions, deposition, and translocation through the food chain is currently not available. Complex atmospheric chemistry and dispersion models are required to predict concentration and deposition contributions, and aquatic process models are required to predict effects on fish. There are uncertainties in all of these predictions. Therefore, the most reliable method of understanding impacts of coal-fired power plants on Hg deposition is from empirical data. A review of the literature on mercury deposition around sources including coal-fired power plants found studies covering local mercury concentrations in soil, vegetation, and animals (fish and cows (Lopez et al. 2003)). There is strong evidence of enhanced local deposition within 3 km of the chlor-alkali plants, with elevated soil concentrations and estimated deposition rates of 10 times background. For coal-fired power plants, the data show that atmospheric deposition of Hg may be slightly enhanced. On the scale of a few km, modeling suggests that wet deposition may be increased by a factor of two or three over background. The measured data suggest lower increases of 15% or less. The effects of coal-fired plants seem to be less than 10% of total deposition on a national scale, based on emissions and global modeling. The following summarizes our findings from published reports on the impacts of local deposition. In terms of excesses over background the following increments have been observed within a few km of the plant: (1) local soil concentration Hg increments of 30%-60%, (2) sediment increments of 18-30%, (3) wet deposition increments of 11-12%, and (4) fish Hg increments of about 5-6%, based on an empirical finding that fish concentrations are proportional to the square root of deposition. Important uncertainties include possible reductions of RGM to Hg(0) in power plant plumes and the role of water chemistry in the relationship between Hg

  9. Coal resources availability in Botswana

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Modisi, M.P.

    1990-01-01

    This paper reports that Southern Africa, and Botswana in particular, is well-endowed with relatively large reserves of coal. The existence of coal in Botswana has been known since the end of the last century. Exploration activities by the Geological Survey and the private sector led to the discovery of major deposits and by the late 1960s reserves capable of supporting a mine at Morupule for the domestic market has been confirmed. The oil crises of 1973-74 and 1978-79 stimulated increased interest in coal exploration the world over and Botswana attracted several private sector companies looking for coal that could be traded on the international market. As a result vast resources and reserves of low to medium quality bituminous coal, suitable for the export market, were proved. Resources amounting to 21,680 million tonnes of in situ coal had been revealed by 1987. Reserves of possible economic exploitation are estimated at 10,180 million tonnes in two coal field areas, namely the Morupule Coal Field and the Mmamabula Coal Field. Since the collapse of oil prices and consequently coal prices in the mid-1980s, enthusiasm for coal exploration has plummeted and relatively little prospecting has taken place. The coal occurs within the Upper Carboniferous to Jurassic Karoo Supergroup which underlies some 60 percent of the country's land surface. The western part of the country is mantled by the Kalahari beds, a top layer of unconsolidated sands masking bedrock geology. Although coal seams have been intersected in boreholes in this western area, most exploration activity has taken place in the eastern part of the country where the Morupule and Mmamabula coal fields are located. It is in the east that most of the population is concentrated and infrastructure has been developed

  10. Research on the thermal decomposition of Mongolian Baganuur lignite and Naryn sukhait bituminous coal

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. Ariunaa

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available The technical characteristics, elemental composition of the organic and mineral matters, ash melting behaviors and carbonization and gasification reactivities of coals from Baganuur and Naryn sukhait deposits were investigated. The results of proximate and ultimate analysis confirmed that the coal from Baganuur deposit can be graded as a low rank lignite B2 mark coal and Naryn sukhait coal is a bituminous G mark one. The carbonization and gasification experiments were performed using TGA apparatus and fixed bed quartz reactor. The data obtained with two experimental reactors showed that Baganuur lignite had lower thermal stability and much higher CO2 gasification reactivity at 950°C as compared to those for Naryn sukhait bituminous coal.Mongolian Journal of Chemistry 16 (42, 2015, 22-29

  11. Method to liquefy coal

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cronauer, D.C.; Kehl, W.L.

    1977-06-08

    In a method to liquify coal in the presence of hydrogen and hydrogen-transfer solvents, a hydrogenation catalyst is used in which an amorphous aluminium phosphate is taken as catalyst carrier. The particular advantage of aluminium phosphate catalyst carriers is their property of not loosing their mechanical strength even after manifold oxidizing regeneration (burning off the deposited carbon). The quantity of carbon deposited on the catalyst when using an aluminium phosphate carrier is considerably loss than with usual catalyst carriers.

  12. Earliest record of the fossil snake Palaeophis from the Paleocene/Eocene boundary in Denmark

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kristensen, Hans Viborg; Cuny, Gilles; Redsted Rasmussen, Arne

    2012-01-01

    Abstract. – The earliest record of Palaeophis ever found in Denmark is here based on vertebrae described from the Paleocene/Eocene Stolleklint Clay of the Isle of Mors (northern Denmark). Although much smaller, they appear quite similar to the Eocene vertebra described from the Fur Formation...

  13. Utilisation of chemically treated coal

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bezovska, M.

    2002-01-01

    The numerous application of coal with high content of humic substances are known. They are used in many branches of industry. The complex study of the composition of coal from upper Nitra mines has directed research to its application in the field of ecology and agriculture. The effective sorption layers of this coal and their humic acids can trap a broad spectrum of toxic harmful substances present in industrial wastes, particularly heavy metals. A major source of humic acids is coal - the most abundant and predominant product of plant residue coalification. All ranks of coal contain humic acids but lignite from Novaky deposit represents the most easily available and concentrated from of humic acids. The possibilities of utilisation of humic acids to remove heavy metals from waste waters was studied. The residual concentrations of the investigated metals in the aqueous phase were determined by AAs. From the results follows that the samples of coals humic acids can be used for the heavy metal removal from metal solutions and the real acid mine water. Oxidised coal with high content of humic acids and nitrogen is used in agriculture as fertilizer. Humic acids are active component in coal and can help to utilize almost quantitatively nitrogen in soil. The humic substances block and stabilize toxic metal residues already present in soil. (author)

  14. Brown coal gasification made easy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hamilton, Chris

    2006-01-01

    Few Victorians will be aware that gas derived from coal was first used in 1849 to provide lighting in a baker's shop in Swanston Street, long before electric lighting came to the State. The first commercial 'gas works' came on stream in 1856 and Melbourne then had street lighting run on gas. By 1892 there were 50 such gas works across the State. Virtually all were fed with black coal imported from New South Wales. Brown coal was first discovered west of Melbourne in 1857, and the Latrobe Valley deposits were identified in the early 1870s. Unfortunately, such wet brown coal did not suit the gas works. Various attempts to commercialise Victorian brown coal met with mixed success as it struggled to compete with imported New South Wales black coal. In June 1924 Yallourn A transmitted the first electric power to Melbourne, and thus began the Latrobe Valley's long association with generating electric power from brown coal. Around 1950, the Metropolitan Gas Company applied for financial assistance to build a towns gas plant using imported German gasification technology which had been originally designed for a brown coal briquette feed. The State Government promptly acquired the company and formed the Gas and Fuel Corporation. The Morwell Gasification Plant was opened on 9 December 1956 and began supplying Melbourne with medium heating value towns gas

  15. Solid lubricant mass contact transfer technology usage for vacuum ball bearings longevity increasing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arzymatov, B.; Deulin, E.

    2016-07-01

    A contact mass transfer technological method of solid lubricant deposition on components of vacuum ball bearings is presented. Physics-mathematical model of process contact mass transfer is being considered. The experimental results of ball bearings covered with solid lubricant longevity in vacuum are presented. It is shown that solid lubricant of contact mass transfer method deposition is prospective for ball bearing longevity increasing.

  16. Deposition Assessment Of Anthropogenic Airborne 210Po And 210Pb In The Mosses And Surface Soil At The Vicinity Of A Coal-Fired Power Plant

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zal U'yun Wan Mahmood; Nita Salina Abu Bakar; Abdul Kadir Ishak

    2014-01-01

    Anthropogenic airborne depositions of 210 Po and 210 Pb in the mosses and surface soil collected at the vicinity of a coal-fired power plant were assessed. The purpose of the study was to determine activity concentrations of 210 Po, 210 Pb and its activity ratio ( 210 Po/ 210 Pb). Other purposes were to determine their concentration factor (CF) in relation to track the potential source of those radionuclides and to identify most suitable moss species as a biological indicator for atmospheric deposition contaminants. In this study, different species of mosses Leucobryum aduncum, Campylopus serratus, Syrrhopodon ciliates and Vesicularia montagnei were collected in May 2011 at the area around 30 km radius from Tanjung Bin coal-fired power plant located in Pontian, Johor. The activity concentrations of 210 Po 210 Pb and 210 Po/ 210 Pb in mosses were in the range of 76.81 ± 4.94 - 251.33 ± 16.33 Bqkg -1 dry wt., 54.37 ± 3.38 - 164.63 ± 11.64 Bqkg -1 dry wt. and 1.10 - 2.00, respectively. Meanwhile the ranges for those radionuclides in the surface soil were 33.53 ± 2.10 - 183.93 ± 12.01 Bqkg -1 dry wt., 17.92 ± 1.18 - 298.60 ± 23.70 Bqkg -1 dry wt. and 1.57 - 2.44, respectively. Corresponding high ability of Leucobryum aduncum to accumulate more 210 Po and 210 Pb, wide geographical distribution, most abundant and high CF, therefore, the findings can be concluded this species was the most suitable as a biological indicator for atmospheric deposition contaminants such as 210 Po and 210 Pb. Furthermore, it is clear the accumulation of 210 Po and 210 Pb in mosses might be supplied from various sources of atmospheric deposition such as coal-fired power plant operation, industrial, agriculture and fertilizer activities, burned fuel fossil and forest; and other potential sources. Meanwhile, the main source of 210 Po and 210 Pb in surface soil is supplied from the in situ decay of radon and radium. (author)

  17. Globanomalina luxorensis, a Tethyan biostratigraphic marker of latest Paleocene global events

    OpenAIRE

    Speijer, Robert; Samir, AM

    1997-01-01

    The lowest common occurrence (LCO) of the planktonic foraminifera Globanomalina luxorensis marks the level of the latest Paleocene global benthic extinction event (BEE) and associated negative delta(13) C excursion in various bathyal and neritic successions in the Mediterranean region. Below the BEE level, G. luxorensis is extremely rare and subordinate in abundance relative to its precursor G, chapmani. From this level onwards, G. luxorensis generally constitutes a large proportion of the pl...

  18. Gigantism in unique biogenic magnetite at the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum

    OpenAIRE

    Schumann, Dirk; Raub, Timothy D.; Kopp, Robert E.; Guerquin-Kern, Jean-Luc; Wu, Ting-Di; Rouiller, Isabelle; Smirnov, Aleksey V.; Sears, S. Kelly; Lücken, Uwe; Tikoo, Sonia M.; Hesse, Reinhard; Kirschvink, Joseph L.; Vali, Hojatollah

    2008-01-01

    We report the discovery of exceptionally large biogenic magnetite crystals in clay-rich sediments spanning the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM) in a borehole at Ancora, New Jersey. Aside from previously-described abundant bacterial magnetofossils, electron microscopy reveals novel spearhead-like and spindle-like magnetite up to 4 μm long and hexaoctahedral prisms up to 1.4 μm long. Similar to magnetite produced by magnetotactic bacteria, these single-crystal particles exhibit chemical...

  19. Au-bearing magnetite mineralizaion in Kashmar (alteration, mineralization, geochemistry, geochemistry and fluid inclusions;

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alireza Almasi

    2017-02-01

    Full Text Available Introduction The study area is located in the central part of the Khaf- Kashmar- Bardaskan volcano-plotunic belt (briefly KKBB. Several IOCG deposits such as Tanourjeh Au-bearing magnetite deposit and Kuh-e-Zar Specularite-rich Au deposit have been explored in KKBB. Geology, alteration, mineralization, geochemistry and fluid inclusion results in Kashmar suggest the IOCG type Au-bearing magnetite mineralization. These IOCG deposits at KKBB form at an active continental arc related to SSZ-type Sabzevar oceanic subduction. Materials and methods Use of Landsat 7+, IRS and Aster satellites. Petrography and alteration Studies in 150 thin sections of volcanic and intrusive rocks. Sampling of ore-bearing quartz vein and mineralography. Preparation of 28 geochemistry samples by the chip composite method of ore-bearing quartz vein and analyzing them in the ACME laboratory by Aqua Regia 1DX1. Fluid inclusions studies of 14 samples of quartz and barite related to the ore minerals of ore-bearing quartz vein by THM600 stage of Linkam company. Results Magmatic events in Kashmar occur at Paleocene-Eocene and include: (1 old mafic - intermediate volcano-plutonic series; (2 felsic volcanic and granitoids; and (3 parallel swarm dykes which are youngest (Almasi et al., 2016. Geochemically, Kashmar rocks are metaluminous to highly peraluminous and Tholeitic to calc-alkaline and shoshonitic in composition (Almasi et al., 2016. The field characteristics, together with isotope and geochemical analyses show that all rock types are essentially co-magmatic and post-collisional I-type (Almasi et al., 2016. Alteration of Kashmar is described in two ways: (1 intense ellipsoidal-linear Argillic-Sillicification and low sericitic with Silica caps and with medium widespread and propylitic alterations in triple regions, next to Dorouneh fault; and (2 Medium Hematite-Carbonate-Chlorite-Silicification alterations in Kamarmard heights. In parts of near the Doruneh fault, sometimes

  20. Paleocene Pacific Plate reorganization mirrored in formation of the Suvarov Trough, Manihiki Plateau

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pietsch, Ricarda; Uenzelmann-Neben, Gabriele

    2016-10-01

    The Suvarov Trough is a graben structure that deviates from the Danger Islands Troughs within the Manihiki Plateau, a Large Igneous Province (LIP) located in the Central Pacific. New high-resolution seismic reflection data provide evidence that the graben formed in two phases during the Paleocene (65-45 Ma). In a first phase extension occurred in southwestward direction, pulling apart the northern part of the Suvarov Trough and a parallel trending unnamed trough. In a second phase a change of extensional force direction occurred from southwest to west-northwest, forming the southern part of the Suvarov Trough that extends onto the High Plateau. The formation of the Suvarov Trough is accompanied by a series of normal fault systems that apparently formed simultaneously. Comparing the seismic results to existing Pacific paleo strain reconstructions, the timing of increased strain and local deformation direction fits well to our findings. We thus suggest that the multiple strike directions of the Suvarov Trough represent an extensional structure that was caused by the major, stepwise Pacific Plate reorganization during the Paleocene.

  1. Utilisation of chemically treated coal

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bežovská Mária

    2002-03-01

    Full Text Available The numerous application of coal with high content of humic substances are known. They are used in many branches of industry. The complex study of the composition of coal from upper Nitra mines has directed research to its application in the field of ecology and agriculture. The effective sorption layers of this coal and their humic acids can to trap a broad spectrum of toxic harmful substances present in industrial wastes, particularly heavy metals. A major source of humic acids is coal - the most abundant and predominant product of plant residue coalification. All ranks of coal containt humic acids but lignite from Nováky deposit represents the most easily available and concentrated form of humic acids. Deep oxidation of coal by HNO3 oxidation - degradation has been performed to produce water-soluble-organic acids. The possibilities of utilisation of oxidised coal and humic acids to remove heavy metals from waste waters was studied. The residual concentrations of the investigated metals in the aqueous phase were determined by AAs. From the results follows that the samples of oxidised coal and theirs humic acids can be used for the heavy metal removal from metal solutions and the real acid mine water.Oxidised coal with a high content of humic acids and nitrogen is used in agriculture a fertilizer. Humic acids are active component in coal and help to utilize almost quantitatively nitrogen in soil. The humic substances block and stabiliz toxic metal residues already present in soil.

  2. Co-gasification of coal and wood to reduce environmental pollution

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Giovanni Pino; Martino Paolucci; Francesco Geri; F. Tunzio; G. Spazzafumo [APAT - National Agency for Environmental Protection and Technical Services, Rome (Italy)

    2005-07-01

    After presenting the paper 'Co-firing and Co-gasification Wood and Coal' at the First International Conference on Clean Coal Technologies, the authors thought about studying in depth the gasification process of woody biomass and coal. This would lead, once all the technical difficulties related to hybrid feeding were solved, to bear a system which mainly presents two advantages. The first advantage is derived by knowing that woody biomass contains a mass percentage of sulphur which is hundred times smaller as much when compared to coal. The second advantage derives from the fact that, given a capturing and sequestration system for the carbon dioxide, it is feasible to control the biomass/coal ratio at the feeding state. In doing so, emissions of carbon dioxide which are not captured will quantitatively be equal to the ones that would derive from the plain combustion of the biomass. 3 refs., 4 figs.

  3. Rare earth element patterns in nigerian coals

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ewa, I.O.B.; Elegba, S.B.

    1996-01-01

    Rare Earth Elements (REE's) retain group coherence in their environment and are therefore useful geochemical markers. We report the pattern of ten REE's (La, Ce, Nd, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Yb, Lu) determined by Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA) for coals obtained from eight mines in Nigeria, namely, Okaba, Enugu, Ogbete, Onyeama, Gombe, Lafia, Asaba and Afikpo. Our results show the existence of fractionations with the highest index of 13.19 for Lafia coal, depletion in HREE, negative Eu anomaly for most of the coals, REE patterns that are consistent with chondritic trends; prominent (Eu/Eu * ) cn for Okaba and Gombe coals. Variations in geochemical data observed could suggest strong departures from band metamorphism during the coalification events of the Benue Trough geosynclines, where the coal deposits are all located. (author) 14 refs., 2 figs., 3 tabs

  4. Combustion characterization of beneficiated coal-based fuels

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chow, O.K.; Levasseur, A.A.

    1995-11-01

    The Pittsburgh Energy Technology Center (PETC) of the U.S. Department of Energy is sponsoring the development of advanced coal-cleaning technologies aimed at expanding the use of the nation`s vast coal reserves in an environmentally and economically acceptable manner. Because of the lack of practical experience with deeply beneficiated coal-based fuels, PETC has contracted Combustion Engineering, Inc. to perform a multi-year project on `Combustion Characterization of Beneficiated Coal-Based Fuels.` The objectives of this project include: (1) the development of an engineering data base which will provide detailed information on the properties of Beneficiated Coal-Based Fuels (BCs) influencing combustion, ash deposition, ash erosion, particulate collection, and emissions; and (2) the application of this technical data base to predict the performance and economic impacts of firing the BCFs in various commercial boiler designs.

  5. Stratigraphy, U-Th chronology, and paleoenvironments at Gladysvale Cave: insights into the climatic control of South African hominin-bearing cave deposits.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pickering, Robyn; Hancox, Phillip J; Lee-Thorp, Julia A; Grün, Rainer; Mortimer, Graham E; McCulloch, Malcolm; Berger, Lee R

    2007-11-01

    Gladysvale Cave is one of the few Plio-Pleistocene hominin-bearing cave sites in South Africa that contains a well-stratified cave fill with clastic sediments interspersed with flowstones. The clastic sediments can be divided into units based on the presence of intercalated flowstones, forming flowstone bounded units (FBU). Ten MC-ICP-MS uranium-series dates on several flowstone horizons in the Gladysvale Internal Deposit fan indicate deposition from the late mid-Pleistocene ( approximately 570 ka) to Holocene ( approximately 7 ka) during limited periods of higher effective moisture. Clastic sedimentation occurred during the interceding, presumably more arid, periods. This sequence is not consistent with earlier models for South African caves that simply assumed interglacial sedimentation and glacial erosion. (13)C/(12)C data suggest that flowstone tended to form during periods with higher proportions of C(3) plants in the local vegetation, while clastic sediments reflect higher proportions of C(4) grasses, although this is not always the case. We argue that flowstones are precipitated during periods of higher effective precipitation and restricted cave entrances, while clastic sediments accumulated during periods with more open vegetation. The sedimentary fill of the fossiliferous deposits are, therefore, highly episodic in nature, with large periods of time unlikely to be represented. This has serious implications for the other hominin-bearing caves close by, as these deposits are likely to be similarly episodic. This is especially pertinent when addressing extinction events and reconstructions of paleoenvironments, as large periods of time may be unrecorded. The Gladysvale Cave fill sediments may serve as a climatically forced chronostratigraphic model for these less well-stratified and well-dated Plio-Pleistocene sites.

  6. Composition of hydrogenation products of Borodino brown coal

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    M.A. Gyul' malieva; A.S. Maloletnev; G.A. Kalabin; A.M. Gyul' maliev [Institute for Fossil Fuels, Moscow (Russian Federation)

    2008-02-15

    The composition of liquid products of hydrogenation of brown coal from the Borodino deposit was determined by means of {sup 13}C NMR spectroscopy and chemical thermodynamics methods. It was shown that the group composition of the liquid hydrogenation products at thermodynamic equilibrium is predictable from the elemental composition of the organic matter of parent coal. 9 refs., 5 figs., 6 tabs.

  7. Coal Reservoir Physical Property Features and CBM Resource Potential in Xingtai Coal-bearing Region%邢台含煤区煤储层物性特征及煤层气资源潜力

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    高亮; 上官拴通; 张国斌; 李英英; 闫家栋

    2017-01-01

    为了评价邢台含煤区煤层气开发潜力,采集不同矿井的2、8、9号煤样进行了煤岩组分、孔裂隙分布、等温吸附及水单相渗透率实验分析,采用体积法和综合排队系数法对底板标高-2000 m以浅的煤层气资源量进行了预测和评价.结果表明:区内目的煤层厚度、煤级适中,具有较好的生储条件;煤岩的镜质组、惰质组和壳质组含量依次减少,水分随煤化程度的增加呈现先减小后增大,挥发分随煤化程度的增加而减少;孔隙度随煤化程度增大而增大,且孔径分布不均匀,微孔的孔容和比表面积所占比例最大;显微裂隙密度级别为一级,部分裂隙被脉状方解石和粒状黄铁矿充填;煤的吸附量受煤级控制,且在一定压力范围内,吸附量随压力增加而增大,吸附能力随压力增加而减小;煤层渗透率离散性较大,属中~高级渗透率.估算底板标高-2000 m以浅潜在的煤层气资源量为427.31亿m3,优选出中等有利区块6个,其中FY区、QHY区、GZ区为煤层气勘探首选区块.%To assess CBM exploitation potential in the Xingtai coal-bearing region, collected coal samples from coal seam Nos. 2, 8 and 9 in different coalmines, carried out experimental analysis of coal lithotype, pore and fissure distribution, isothermal adsorption and wa-ter single-phase permeability. Through the volumetric method and integrated queuing coefficient method carried out prediction and as-sessment of CBM resources above floor elevation-2000 m. The result has shown that the target coal thickness and coal rank are moder-ate, thus have better CBM generation and preservation conditions. Contents of coal macerals vitrinite, inertinite and exinite are sequen-tially deceasing;moisture content increasing along with coalification degree increasing presents deceasing first than increasing;volatile matter decreasing along with coalification degree increasing. Porosity is increasing along with coalification

  8. Coal rank (vitrinite reflectance) data for Cretaceous/Tertiary coal measures in the Grande Cache and Hinton areas, Alberta

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kalkreuth, W.D.; Langenberg, W.; McMechan, M.E.; Tomica, M.A.; McDougall, W.; Burchard, K.

    1996-07-01

    A total of 544 vitrinite reflectance values are reported. The outcrop locations and other pertinent data are listed. Vitrinite reflectances determined in subsurface samples from two coal exploration boreholes and 13 petroleum exploration wells are tabulated. The data have been used (in other studies) to evaluate maturation levels in potential source rocks and to assess methane potential of the coal deposits. A diskette containing the data is included. 18 refs., 1 fig., 2 tabs.

  9. Coal waste slurries as a fuel for integrated gasification combined cycle plants

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lutynski Marcin A.

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available The article summarizes recent development in integrated gasification combined cycle technology and lists existing and planned IGCC plants. A brief outlook on the IGCC gasification technology is given with focus on entrained-flow gasifiers where the low-quality coal waste slurry fuel can be used. Desired properties of coal and ash for entrained-flow gasifiers are listed. The coal waste slurries, which were deposited at impoundments in Upper Silesian Coal Basin, were considered as a direct feed for such gasifiers. The average ash content, moisture content and lower heating value were analysed and presented as an average values. Entrained-flow commercial gasifiers can be considered as suitable for the coal slurry feed, however the ash content of coal slurries deposited in impoundments is too high for the direct use as the feed for the gasifiers. The moisture content of slurries calculated on as received basis meets the requirements of entrained-flow slurry feed gasifiers. The content of fines is relatively high which allow to use the slurries in entrained-flow gasifiers.

  10. Evidence of reworked Cretaceous fossils and their bearing on the existence of Tertiary dinosaurs

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Eaton, J.G. (Museum of Northern Arizona, Flagstaff (USA)); Kirkland, J.I. (Univ. of Nebraska, Lincoln (USA)); Doi, K. (Univ. of Colorado, Boulder (USA))

    1989-06-01

    The Paleocene Shotgun fauna of Wyoming includes marine sharks as well as mammals. It has been suggested that the sharks were introduced from the Cannonball Sea. It is more likely that these sharks were reworked from a Cretaceous rock sequence that included both marine and terrestrial deposits as there is a mixture of marine and freshwater taxa. These taxa have not been recorded elsewhere after the Cretaceous and are not known from the Cannonball Formation. Early Eocene localities at Raven Ridge, Utah, similarly contain teeth of Cretaceous marine and freshwater fish, dinosaurs, and Eocene mammals. The Cretaceous teeth are well preserved, variably abraded, and serve to cast doubts on criteria recently used to claim that dinosaur teeth recovered from the Paleocene of Montana are not reworked. Another Eocene locality in the San Juan Basin has produced an Eocene mammalian fauna with diverse Cretaceous marine sharks. Neither the nature of preservation nor the degree of abrasion could be used to distinguish reworked from contemporaneous material. The mixed environments represented by the fish taxa and recognition of the extensive pre-Tertiary extinction of both marine and freshwater fish were employed to recognize reworked specimens.

  11. Delayed fungal evolution did not cause the Paleozoic peak in coal production.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nelsen, Matthew P; DiMichele, William A; Peters, Shanan E; Boyce, C Kevin

    2016-03-01

    Organic carbon burial plays a critical role in Earth systems, influencing atmospheric O2 and CO2 concentrations and, thereby, climate. The Carboniferous Period of the Paleozoic is so named for massive, widespread coal deposits. A widely accepted explanation for this peak in coal production is a temporal lag between the evolution of abundant lignin production in woody plants and the subsequent evolution of lignin-degrading Agaricomycetes fungi, resulting in a period when vast amounts of lignin-rich plant material accumulated. Here, we reject this evolutionary lag hypothesis, based on assessment of phylogenomic, geochemical, paleontological, and stratigraphic evidence. Lignin-degrading Agaricomycetes may have been present before the Carboniferous, and lignin degradation was likely never restricted to them and their class II peroxidases, because lignin modification is known to occur via other enzymatic mechanisms in other fungal and bacterial lineages. Furthermore, a large proportion of Carboniferous coal horizons are dominated by unlignified lycopsid periderm with equivalent coal accumulation rates continuing through several transitions between floral dominance by lignin-poor lycopsids and lignin-rich tree ferns and seed plants. Thus, biochemical composition had little relevance to coal accumulation. Throughout the fossil record, evidence of decay is pervasive in all organic matter exposed subaerially during deposition, and high coal accumulation rates have continued to the present wherever environmental conditions permit. Rather than a consequence of a temporal decoupling of evolutionary innovations between fungi and plants, Paleozoic coal abundance was likely the result of a unique combination of everwet tropical conditions and extensive depositional systems during the assembly of Pangea.

  12. Seismic modelling of coal bed methane strata, Willow Creek, Alberta

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Richardson, S.E.; Mayer, R.; Lawton, D.C.; Langenberg, W. [Consortium for Research in Elastic Wave Exploration Seismology, Calgary, AB (Canada)

    2001-07-01

    The purpose is to determine the feasibility of applying high- resolution reflection seismic surveying to coalbed methane (CBM) exploration and development. Numerical reflection seismic methods are examined for measuring the mapping continuity and coherence of coal zones. Numerical modelling of a coal zone in Upper Cretaceous sediments near Willow Creek, Alberta indicates that seismic data that is predominantly of 100 Hz is required to map the coal zone and lateral facies variations within the deposit. For resolution of individual coal seams, a central frequency >150 Hz would be needed. 26 refs., 17 figs., 3 tabs.

  13. Isotopic and anatomical evidence of an herbivorous diet in the Early Tertiary giant bird Gastornis. Implications for the structure of Paleocene terrestrial ecosystems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Angst, D.; Lécuyer, C.; Amiot, R.; Buffetaut, E.; Fourel, F.; Martineau, F.; Legendre, S.; Abourachid, A.; Herrel, A.

    2014-04-01

    The mode of life of the early Tertiary giant bird Gastornis has long been a matter of controversy. Although it has often been reconstructed as an apex predator feeding on small mammals, according to other interpretations, it was in fact a large herbivore. To determine the diet of this bird, we analyze here the carbon isotope composition of the bone apatite from Gastornis and contemporaneous herbivorous mammals. Based on 13C-enrichment measured between carbonate and diet of carnivorous and herbivorous modern birds, the carbonate δ13C values of Gastornis bone remains, recovered from four Paleocene and Eocene French localities, indicate that this bird fed on plants. This is confirmed by a morphofunctional study showing that the reconstructed jaw musculature of Gastornis was similar to that of living herbivorous birds and unlike that of carnivorous forms. The herbivorous Gastornis was the largest terrestrial tetrapod in the Paleocene biota of Europe, unlike the situation in North America and Asia, where Gastornis is first recorded in the early Eocene, and the largest Paleocene animals were herbivorous mammals. The structure of the Paleocene terrestrial ecosystems of Europe may have been similar to that of some large islands, notably Madagascar, prior to the arrival of humans.

  14. Influence of a Large Pillar on the Optimum Roadway Position in an Extremely Close Coal Seam

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Li Yang

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Based on the mining practice in an extremely close coal seam, theoretical analysis was conducted on the vertical stress distribution of the floor strata under a large coal pillar. The vertical stress distribution regulation of a No. 5 coal seam was revealed. To obtain the optimum position of the roadway that bears the supporting pressure of a large coal pillar, numerical modeling was applied to analyze the relation among the stress distribution of the roadway surrounding the rock that bears the supporting pressure of a large coal pillar, the plastic zone distribution of the roadway surrounding the rock, the surrounding rock deformation, and the roadway layout position. The theoretical calculation results of the stress value, stress variation rate, and influencing range of the stress influencing angle showed that the reasonable malposition of the No. 5 coal seam roadway was an inner malposition of 4 m. The mining practice showed the following: the layout of No. 25301 panel belt roadway at the position of the inner malposition of 4 m was reasonable, the roadway support performance was favourable without deformation, and ground pressure was not obvious. The research achievement of this study is the provision of a reference for roadway layouts under similar conditions.

  15. Identification of the Paleocene-Eocene boundary in coastal strata in the Otway Basin, Victoria, Australia

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Frieling, J.; Huurdeman, Emiel; Rem, Charlotte; Donders, T.H.; Pross, Jorg; Bohaty, Steven M.; Holdgate, Guy; Gallagher, Stephen; McGowran, Brian; Bijl, P.K.

    2018-01-01

    Detailed, stratigraphically well-constrained environmental reconstructions are available for Paleocene and Eocene strata at a range of sites in the southwest Pacific Ocean (New Zealand and East Tasman Plateau; ETP) and Integrated Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Site U1356 in the south of the

  16. Investigating possible use of roller bearings made of plastic in belt conveyor idlers

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Grzeszek, A

    1979-05-01

    This paper presents results of laboratory and operational tests of roller bearings made of polyamide in belt conveyor idlers. During operational tests the conveyor was inclined to one side so the load on individual bearings varied and the bearings were also covered with dust and dirt. The tests show that the first failures of the plastic bearings took place after 3 months but some of the bearings were in operation one year without failures. All the failures were caused by wear of the bearing due to dust and dirt on their sliding surface. Increased friction resulted in higher temperatures which deformed the bearings. The tests showed that the bearings which were not dirty operated without failure. It is concluded that the plastic-made roller bearings cannot be used under conditions of brown coal surface mines as these mines are characterized by intense dustfall and by dirt which would increase friction in the bearings. (In Polish)

  17. Phanerozoic Rifting Phases And Mineral Deposits

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hassaan, Mahmoud

    2016-04-01

    In North Africa occur Mediterranean and Red Sea metallogenic provinces. In each province distribute 47 iron- manganese- barite and lead-zinc deposits with tectonic-structural control. The author presents in this paper aspects of position of these deposits in the two provinces with Phanerozoic rifting . The Mediterranean Province belongs to two epochs, Hercynian and Alpine. The Hercynian Epoch manganese deposits in only Moroccoa- Algeria belong to Paleozoic tectonic zones and Proterozoic volcanics. The Alpine Epoch iron-manganese deposits are of post-orogenic exhalative-sedimentary origin. Manganese deposits in southern Morocco occur in Kabil-Rief quartz-chalcedony veins controlled by faults in andesitic sheets and in bedded pelitic tuffs, strata-form lenses and ore veins, in Precambrian schist and in Triassic and Cretaceous dolomites. Disseminated manganese with quartz and barite and effusive hydrothermal veins are hosted in Paleocene volcanics. Manganese deposits in Algeria are limited and unrecorded in Tunisia. Strata-form iron deposits in Atlas Heights are widespread in sub-rift zone among Jurassic sediments inter-bedding volcanic rocks. In Algeria, Group Beni-Saf iron deposits are localized along the Mediterranean coast in terrigenous and carbonate rocks of Jurassic, Cretaceous and Eocene age within faults and bedding planes. In Morocco strata-form hydrothermal lead-zinc deposits occur in contact zone of Tertiary andesite inter-bedding Cambrian shale, Lias dolomites and Eocene andesite. In both Algeria and Tunisia metasomatic Pb-Zn veins occur in Campanian - Maastrichtian carbonates, Triassic breccia, Jurassic limestone, Paleocene sandstones and limestone and Neogene conglomerates and sandstones. The Red Sea metallogenic province belongs to the Late Tertiary-Miocene times. In Wadi Araba hydrothermal iron-manganese deposits occur in Cretaceous sediments within 320°and 310 NW faults related to Tertiary basalt. Um-Bogma iron-manganese deposits are closely

  18. sedimentology, depositional environments and basin evolution

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Preferred Customer

    ABSTRACT: The Inter-Trappean coal and oil shale-bearing sedimentation in the Delbi-Moye Basin ... accompanied by passive subsidence. ... margins, whereas the concentration of fine-grained clastic sediments and ..... concentrated at the marginal areas of the basin. .... faults favoured the accumulation of alluvial fan.

  19. Chemical and physical hydrogeology of coal, mixed coal-sandstone and sandstone aquifers from coal-bearing formations in the Alberta Plains region, Alberta

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lemay, T.G.

    2003-09-01

    With the decline of conventional oil and gas reserves, natural gas from coal (NGC) is an unconventional gas resource that is receiving much attention from petroleum exploration and development companies in Alberta. Although the volume of the NGC resource is large, there are many challenges facing NGC development in Alberta, including technical and economic issues, land access, water disposal, water diversion and access to information. Exploration and development of NGC in Alberta is relatively new, therefore there is little baseline data on which to base regulatory strategies. Some important information gaps have been filled through water well sampling in coal, mixed coal-sandstone and sandstone aquifers throughout Alberta. Analyses focused on the chemical and physical characteristics aquifers in use for domestic or agricultural purposes. Aquifer depths were generally less than 100 metres. Samples collected from Paskapoo-Scollard Formation, Horseshoe Canyon Formation and Belly River Group aquifers exceed Canadian water quality guideline values with respect to pH, sodium, manganese, chloride, chromium, sulphate, phenols and total dissolved solids. Pump tests conducted within the aquifers indicate that the groundwater flow is complicated. Water quality will have to be carefully managed to ensure responsible disposal practices are followed. Future studies will focus on understanding the chemical and biological process that occur within the aquifers and the possible link between these processes and gas generation. Mitigation and disposal strategies for produced water will also be developed along with exploration strategies using information obtained from hydrogeologic studies. 254 refs., 182 tabs., 100 figs., 3 appendices

  20. Report on the achievements in the Sunshine Project in fiscal 1987. Surveys on coal selection and coal types (Surveys on coal resources for liquefaction); 1987 nendo tanshu sentei chosa tanshu chosa seika hokokusho. Ekikayo sekitan shigen chosa

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    NONE

    1988-03-01

    The survey purpose is to identify availability of coal resources for liquefaction in major coal producing countries in the Pacific basin area. Therefore, collection is carried out on such data as coal existing conditions, coal qualities, production quantities, and infrastructures on coal mines being operated and projects under development or investigation. Coal samples are collected in wide range and exhaustively unbiased to particular coal fields and mines to acquire data to perform selection and evaluation of coals that can be fed to coal liquefying plants. The present survey was intended to acquire fundamental data for the liquefying coal selection, such as coal existing conditions, natures, and infrastructures for the coal resources, taking up as the survey object countries the State of Alaska, U.S.A. and Indonesia. The coal types as the object of the survey are mainly sub-bituminous coal, and additionally brown coal and partly bituminous coal. The amount of coal deposit as the subject of the investigation is 100 million tons or more as the verified reserve. The subject areas cover coal mines in the State of Alaska, U.S.A. (Northern Alaska, Nenana, Beluga, and Matanuska coal fields), and Indonesia (the Sumatra and Kalimantan islands). The survey items are made up of 14 items (see the coal mine survey tables in JN0040851). (NEDO)

  1. Methodology for quantifying uncertainty in coal assessments with an application to a Texas lignite deposit

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Olea, Ricardo A.; Luppens, James A.; Tewalt, Susan J. [U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, VA (United States)

    2011-01-01

    A common practice for characterizing uncertainty in coal resource assessments has been the itemization of tonnage at the mining unit level and the classification of such units according to distance to drilling holes. Distance criteria, such as those used in U.S. Geological Survey Circular 891, are still widely used for public disclosure. A major deficiency of distance methods is that they do not provide a quantitative measure of uncertainty. Additionally, relying on distance between data points alone does not take into consideration other factors known to have an influence on uncertainty, such as spatial correlation, type of probability distribution followed by the data, geological discontinuities, and boundary of the deposit. Several geostatistical methods have been combined to formulate a quantitative characterization for appraising uncertainty. Drill hole datasets ranging from widespread exploration drilling to detailed development drilling from a lignite deposit in Texas were used to illustrate the modeling. The results show that distance to the nearest drill hole is almost completely unrelated to uncertainty, which confirms the inadequacy of characterizing uncertainty based solely on a simple classification of resources by distance classes. The more complex statistical methods used in this study quantify uncertainty and show good agreement between confidence intervals in the uncertainty predictions and data from additional drilling. (author)

  2. Methodology for quantifying uncertainty in coal assessments with an application to a Texas lignite deposit

    Science.gov (United States)

    Olea, R.A.; Luppens, J.A.; Tewalt, S.J.

    2011-01-01

    A common practice for characterizing uncertainty in coal resource assessments has been the itemization of tonnage at the mining unit level and the classification of such units according to distance to drilling holes. Distance criteria, such as those used in U.S. Geological Survey Circular 891, are still widely used for public disclosure. A major deficiency of distance methods is that they do not provide a quantitative measure of uncertainty. Additionally, relying on distance between data points alone does not take into consideration other factors known to have an influence on uncertainty, such as spatial correlation, type of probability distribution followed by the data, geological discontinuities, and boundary of the deposit. Several geostatistical methods have been combined to formulate a quantitative characterization for appraising uncertainty. Drill hole datasets ranging from widespread exploration drilling to detailed development drilling from a lignite deposit in Texas were used to illustrate the modeling. The results show that distance to the nearest drill hole is almost completely unrelated to uncertainty, which confirms the inadequacy of characterizing uncertainty based solely on a simple classification of resources by distance classes. The more complex statistical methods used in this study quantify uncertainty and show good agreement between confidence intervals in the uncertainty predictions and data from additional drilling. ?? 2010.

  3. Characterization of airborne float coal dust emitted during continuous mining, longwall mining and belt transport.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shahan, M R; Seaman, C E; Beck, T W; Colinet, J F; Mischler, S E

    2017-09-01

    Float coal dust is produced by various mining methods, carried by ventilating air and deposited on the floor, roof and ribs of mine airways. If deposited, float dust is re-entrained during a methane explosion. Without sufficient inert rock dust quantities, this float coal dust can propagate an explosion throughout mining entries. Consequently, controlling float coal dust is of critical interest to mining operations. Rock dusting, which is the adding of inert material to airway surfaces, is the main control technique currently used by the coal mining industry to reduce the float coal dust explosion hazard. To assist the industry in reducing this hazard, the Pittsburgh Mining Research Division of the U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health initiated a project to investigate methods and technologies to reduce float coal dust in underground coal mines through prevention, capture and suppression prior to deposition. Field characterization studies were performed to determine quantitatively the sources, types and amounts of dust produced during various coal mining processes. The operations chosen for study were a continuous miner section, a longwall section and a coal-handling facility. For each of these operations, the primary dust sources were confirmed to be the continuous mining machine, longwall shearer and conveyor belt transfer points, respectively. Respirable and total airborne float dust samples were collected and analyzed for each operation, and the ratio of total airborne float coal dust to respirable dust was calculated. During the continuous mining process, the ratio of total airborne float coal dust to respirable dust ranged from 10.3 to 13.8. The ratios measured on the longwall face were between 18.5 and 21.5. The total airborne float coal dust to respirable dust ratio observed during belt transport ranged between 7.5 and 21.8.

  4. Redistribution of elements between wastes and organic-bearing material in the dispersion train of gold-bearing sulfide tailings: Part I. Geochemistry and mineralogy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saryg-Ool, B Yu; Myagkaya, I N; Kirichenko, I S; Gustaytis, M A; Shuvaeva, O V; Zhmodik, S M; Lazareva, E V

    2017-03-01

    Migration and redistribution of elements during prolonged interaction of cyanide wastes with the underlying natural organic-bearing material have been studied in two ~40cm deep cores that sample primary ores and their weathering profile (wastes I and II, respectively) in the dispersion train of gold-bearing sulfide tailings in Siberia. Analytical results of SR-XRF, whole-rock XRF, AAS, CHNS, and SEM measurements of core samples show high K, Sr, Ti, and Fe enrichments and correlation of P 2 O 5 and Mn with LOI and C org . Organic material interlayered or mixed with the wastes accumulates Cu, Zn, Se, Cd, Ag, Au, and Hg. The peat that contacts wastes II bears up to 3wt.% Zn, 1000g/t Se, 100g/t Cd, and 8000g/t Hg. New phases of Zn and Hg sulfides and Hg selenides occur as abundant sheaths over bacterial cells suggesting microbial mediation in sorption of elements. Organic-bearing material in the cores contains 10-30g/t Au in 2-5cm thick intervals, both within and outside the intervals rich in sulfides and selenides. Most of gold is invisible but reaches 345g/t and forms 50nm to 1.5μm Au 0 particles in a thin 2-3cm interval of organic remnants mixed with wastes I. Vertical and lateral infiltration of AMD waters in peat and oxidative dissolution of wastes within the dispersion train of the Ursk tailings lead to redistribution of elements and their accumulation by combined physical (material's permeability, direction AMD), chemical (complexing, sorption by organic matter and Fe(III) hydroxides) and biochemical (metabolism of sulfate-reducing bacteria) processes. The accumulated elements form secondary sulfates, and Hg and Zn selenides. The results provide insights into accumulation of elements in the early history of coal and black shale deposits and have implications for remediation of polluted areas and for secondary enrichment technologies. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  5. Reconstruction of the aero-mixture channels of the pulverized coal plant of the 100MW power plant unit

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ivanovic Vladan B.

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available After the last revitalization of thermal power block of 100 MW in TPP “Kostolac A”, made in the year 2004, during the operation of the plant, pulverized coal deposition often occurred in horizontal sections of the aero-mixture channels. Deposition phenomenon manifested itself in places ahead of spherical compensators in the direction of flow of pulverized coal to the burners, due to unfavorable configuration of these channels. Coal dust deposited in the channels dried and spontaneously combusted, causing numerous damage to channels and its isolation as well as the frequent stoppage of the operation for necessary interventions. The paper presents the original solution of reconstruction of aero-mixture channels which prevented deposition of coal dust and its eventual ignition. In this way the reliability of the mill plant is maximized and higher availability of boiler and block as a whole is achieved.

  6. Depositional setting and early diagenesis of the dinosaur eggshell-bearing Aren Fm at Bastus, Late Campanian, south-central Pyrenees

    Science.gov (United States)

    Díaz-Molina, Margarita; Kälin, Otto; Benito, M. Isabel; Lopez-Martinez, Nieves; Vicens, Enric

    2007-07-01

    The Late Cretaceous Aren Fm exposed north of Bastus in the Tremp Basin (south-central Pyrenees) preserves an excellent record of dinosaur eggs laid in a marine littoral setting. Different from other cases reported in literature, at the Bastus site the preferential nesting ground was original beach sand. The coastal deposits of Aren Fm can be grouped into four facies assemblages, representing respectively shoreface, beachface, beach ridge plain and backbarrier lagoon environments. Shoreface deposits include fine- to coarse-grained hybrid arenites and subordinate quartz-dominated conglomerates with ripple structures of wave and wave-current origin. Beachface deposits are mainly storm beach conglomerates, but parallel-laminated foreshore arenites locally occur. Backbarrier lagoon deposits comprise of washover sandy conglomerates that grade laterally into sandy lime mudstones, biomicrites and marls. Beach ridge sediment, wherein the bulk of dinosaur eggs and eggshell debris occurs, predominantly is a reddish hybrid arenite that has undergone a complex early diagenetic evolution, including marine and meteoric cementation followed by soil development. The reddish arenites overlie wave-dominated shoreface deposits and in places pass laterally into lagoonal deposits. They originally formed shore ridges, that became stabilized during progradational episodes by pedogenesis (beach ridge, sensu [Otvos, E.G., 2000. Beach ridges—definitions and significance. Geomorphology 32, 83-108.]), which also affected the dinosaur eggs. The eggshell-bearing beach ridge arenites are typically preserved at the top of parasequences forming the systems tracts of a third-order sequence. Thick packages of this facies resulted from aggradation of barrier/beach ridge deposits, whose preservation below surfaces of transgressive erosion was favoured by incipient lithification.

  7. Forecasting sandstone uranium deposits in oil-and-gas bearing basins

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pechenkin, I.

    2014-01-01

    The interrelation between oxidation and reduction processes in the carbonaceous strata of Paleogene age was first studied in the 1950s in deposit of the Fergana depression. The presence of pre-ore and post-ore epigenesis of petroleum series was established. Part of uranium mineralization was found to be covered with fluid oil. In the middle of the 1960s in the Sabirsay deposit (Uzbekistan) in primary red-coloured continental sediment of Cretaceous age were studied pre-ore reduction changes, which caused economic uranium mineralization in contrasting geochemical barrier. Further research showed that multidirectional epigenetic processes had changed repeatedly. Later, in the 1970s, American geologists studying uranium deposits in the oil-and-gas bearing Texas Plain reached similar conclusions. From their point of view, in the Benevides deposit the main zones of mineralization tend to be located near the boundary where the zones of oxidation in the strata wedge in, developing in epigenetically reduced formations. A second post-mineral reduction was registered in a number of rock bodies. The complexity of the processes is determined by the double role of hydrocarbon fluids and the products of their dissolution. On the one hand, bituminization of permeable strata as well as pyritization, chloritization, dolomitization and other alterations associated with it create favourable geochemical conditions of a reducing character for a subsequent concentration of ore and nonmetal raw materials. On the other hand, intrusion of bitumen and its dissolution in the aeration zone leads to the burial of the mineralization which formed earlier and disappearance of all traces of its formation (epigenetic oxidation zoning). Thus forecasting and subsequent prospecting become impeded. The established sequence of epigenetic alterations allows us to carry out specialized mapping in productive regions, uncovering hidden parts of epigenetic oxidation zoning and “buried” mineralization

  8. Changes in thermal plasticity of low grade coals during selective extraction of metals

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    В. Ю. Бажин

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available As the world oil market tends to be highly volatile, the coal becomes a primary source of organic raw materials for chemical and metallurgical industries. Fossil coals can accumulate high amounts of elements and mixtures quite often reaching commercially valuable concentrations. Reserves of scandium and other rare elements in coal deposits in Siberia alone are sufficient to satisfy the expected global demand for several decades. This study is intended to solve complex tasks associated with extraction of metal oxides using the developed enrichment method to ensure the required thermal plasticity determining the quality and properties of metallurgical coke.Laboratory experiments have been conducted for the enrichment of high-ash coals containing the highest concentrations of metals. Thermal plasticity values have been determined with the help of Gieseler plastometer . Using modern technologies and equipment individual deposits can be turned into profitable production of enriched coking coals with concurrent extraction of rare metals. It has been proven that the highest commercial potential lies with the extraction of scandium and some other rare metals in the form of oxides from the coal.

  9. High-pressure turbine deposition in land-based gas turbines from various synfuels

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bons, J.P.; Crosby, J.; Wammack, J.E.; Bentley, B.I.; Fletcher, T.H. [Brigham Young University, Provo, UT (United States). Dept. of Mechanical Engineering

    2007-01-15

    Ash deposits from four candidate power turbine synfuels were studied in an accelerated deposition test facility. The facility matches the gas temperature and velocity of modern first-stage high-pressure turbine vanes. A natural gas combustor was seeded with finely ground fuel ash particulate from four different fuels: straw, sawdust, coal, and petroleum coke. The entrained ash particles were accelerated to a combustor exit flow Mach number of 0.31 before impinging on a thermal barrier coating (TBC) target coupon at 1150{sup o}C. Postexposure analyses included surface topography, scanning electron microscopy and x-ray spectroscopy. Due to significant differences in the chemical composition of the various fuel ash samples, deposit thickness and structure vary considerably for fuel. Biomass products (e.g., sawdust and straw) are significantly less prone to deposition than coal and petcoke for the same particle loading conditions. In a test simulating one turbine operating year at a moderate particulate loading of 0.02 parts per million by weight, deposit thickness from coal and petcoke ash exceeded 1 and 2 mm, respectively. These large deposits from coal and petcoke were found to detach readily from the turbine material with thermal cycling and handling. The smaller biomass deposit samples showed greater tenacity, in adhering to the TBC surface. In all cases, corrosive elements (e.g., Na, K, V, Cl, S) were found to penetrate the TBC layer during the accelerated deposition test. Implications for the power generation goal of fuel flexibility are discussed.

  10. Stability of carbon-bearing phases in coal on the passage of weak electric current

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Pivnyak, G.G.; Sobolev, V.V.; Baskevich, A.S.

    2012-01-01

    According to data of the electron paramagnetic resonance, infrared spectroscopy, X-ray analysis, and other methods, mobile radicals and gas have formed in coal on the passage of weak electric current. The quantum-mechanical estimation of the stability of coal organic mass components under the action of weak electric current is offered. It is established that the hydrocarbon and carbon chains are the most probable phase which is destroyed the first.

  11. Coal-fired power plants and the causes of high temperature corrosion

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Oakey, J E; Simms, N J [British Coal Corporation, Coal Technology Development Div., Cheltenham, Glos (United Kingdom); Tomkings, A B [ERA Technology Ltd., Leatherhead, Surrey (United Kingdom)

    1996-12-01

    The heat exchangers in all types of coal-fired power plant operate in aggressive, high temperature environments where high temperature corrosion can severely limit their service lives. The extent of this corrosion is governed by the combined effects of the operating conditions of the heat exchanger and the presence of corrosive species released from the coal during operation. This paper reviews the coal-related factors, such as ash deposition, which influence the operating environments of heat exchangers in three types of coal-fired power plant - conventional pulverized coal boilers, fluidized bed boilers and coal gasification systems. The effects on the performance of the materials used for these heat exchangers are then compared. (au) 35 refs.

  12. Integrated stratigraphy of a shallow marine Paleocene-Eocene boundary section, MCBR cores, Maryland (USA)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Self-Trail, J. M.; Robinson, M. M.; Edwards, L. E.; Powars, D. S.; Wandless, G. A.; Willard, D. A.

    2013-12-01

    An exceptional Paleocene-Eocene boundary section occurs in a cluster of six short (color from gray to alternating gray and pink also occurs within the CIE transition. These alternating changes in color coincide with cyclic peaks in the carbon isotope and percent calcium carbonate curves, where gray color corresponds to a positive shift in carbon isotope values and to a corresponding increase in percent benthic and planktic foraminifera. The upper third of the Marlboro Clay is barren of all calcareous microfossil material, although the presence of foraminiferal molds and linings proves that deposition occurred in a marine environment. Co-occurrence of the dinoflagellates Apectodinium augustum and Phthanoperidinium crenulatum at the top of the Marlboro Clay suggests that the Marlboro Clay at Mattawoman Creek is truncated. This is corroborated by the absence in the Marlboro of specimens of the calcareous nannofossil Rhomboaster-Discoaster assemblage, which is restricted to early Eocene Zone NP9b. Based on planktic/benthic foraminifera ratios, deposition of sediments at Mattawoman Creek occurred predominantly in an inner neritic environment, at water depths between 25-50 m. Occasional deepening to approximately 75m (middle neritic environment) occurred in the early Eocene, as represented by the basal Marlboro Clay. The planktic/benthic ratio, however, could also be affected by surface productivity and/or river runoff. The gradual shift up-section in core color from gray to alternating gray and red, to dark red, coupled with dissolution of calcareous microfossil assemblages, is possibly secondary and may represent lysocline shoaling in a nearshore environment. This would suggest that lysocline shoaling continued after the CIE and well into the early Eocene.

  13. Formation of clinker and its effects on locating and limiting coal resources

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sarnecki, J.C.

    1991-01-01

    Coal burns occur in nature primarily due to spontaneous combustion and the result is baked overburden known as clinker. Understanding occurrences of natural coal burns and formation of clinker is important for coal resource exploration and development. Clinker is an indication of potential commercial coal reserves, and can be located easily due to its difference from the unaltered coal section, especially color, geochemical properties, and aquifer properties. The high porosity and variable material strength of clinker create impacts for aspects of mine development such as foundation planning, slope stability, and water handling. This paper describes the formation of clinker, the use of clinker for coal deposit location, its effect on coal quality, its effect on coal resource development, and the use of clinker in surface mine reclamation

  14. sedimentology, depositional environments and basin evolution

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Preferred Customer

    ABSTRACT: The Inter-Trappean coal and oil shale-bearing sedimentation in the Delbi-Moye Basin took place in tectonically controlled grabens and half-grabens formed by extensional fault systems and accompanied by passive subsidence. The sedimentation history of the basin is related to the tectonic events that affected ...

  15. Hydrogeology of exogenic epigenic uranium deposits (sedimentary type) in Uzbekistan

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Irgashev, Yu.I.; Gavrilov, V.A.; Muslimov, B.A.

    1996-01-01

    Common problems of hydrogeology and geotechnology for uranium deposits (sedimentary type) in the Republic of Uzbekistan are discussed in the paper. Hydrogeology includes studies of texture of water-bearing horizons, occurrences of ore bodies in horizons, hydrochemical survey, hydrodynamics and engineering geology. Features of deposits workable by underground leaching are presented. Such terms as 'water-bearing horizon', 'efficiency', 'water-bearing bed' are explained accounting the results of 30 year investigations conducted during prospecting, designing and exploitation of uranium deposits. Stages of hydrogeological survey are listed and features of each of them are described. Importance of geotechnology for a deposit characterization is shown. (author). 6 refs.; 1 fig.; 1 tab

  16. Tropical Atlantic climate and ecosystem regime shifts during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum

    Science.gov (United States)

    Frieling, Joost; Reichart, Gert-Jan; Middelburg, Jack J.; Röhl, Ursula; Westerhold, Thomas; Bohaty, Steven M.; Sluijs, Appy

    2018-01-01

    The Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM, 56 Ma) was a phase of rapid global warming associated with massive carbon input into the ocean-atmosphere system from a 13C-depleted reservoir. Many midlatitude and high-latitude sections have been studied and document changes in salinity, hydrology and sedimentation, deoxygenation, biotic overturning, and migrations, but detailed records from tropical regions are lacking. Here, we study the PETM at Ocean Drilling Program (ODP) Site 959 in the equatorial Atlantic using a range of organic and inorganic proxies and couple these with dinoflagellate cyst (dinocyst) assemblage analysis. The PETM at Site 959 was previously found to be marked by a ˜ 3.8 ‰ negative carbon isotope excursion (CIE) and a ˜ 4 °C surface ocean warming from the uppermost Paleocene to peak PETM, of which ˜ 1 °C occurs before the onset of the CIE. We record upper Paleocene dinocyst assemblages that are similar to PETM assemblages as found in extratropical regions, confirming poleward migrations of ecosystems during the PETM. The early stages of the PETM are marked by a typical acme of the tropical genus Apectodinium, which reaches abundances of up to 95 %. Subsequently, dinocyst abundances diminish greatly, as do carbonate and pyritized silicate microfossils. The combined paleoenvironmental information from Site 959 and a close-by shelf site in Nigeria implies the general absence of eukaryotic surface-dwelling microplankton during peak PETM warmth in the eastern equatorial Atlantic, most likely caused by heat stress. We hypothesize, based on a literature survey, that heat stress might have reduced calcification in more tropical regions, potentially contributing to reduced deep sea carbonate accumulation rates, and, by buffering acidification, also to biological carbonate compensation of the injected carbon during the PETM. Crucially, abundant organic benthic foraminiferal linings imply sustained export production, likely driven by prokaryotes. In

  17. COPROLITES FROM THE DANIAN LIMESTONE (LOWER PALEOCENE) OF FAXE QUARRY, DENMARK

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Milàn, Jesper

    2010-01-01

    are attributed to sharks, and large, cylindrical coprolites with longitudinal striations on the surface are identified as crocodile coprolites. Fish and sharks are known from abundant finds of otoliths and teeth in Faxe Quarry, and crocodiles are known from finds of single bones and teeth.......A collection of coprolites found in the Danian (Lower Paleocene) limestone of Faxe Quarry, Denmark, is described and attributed to the respective producers. Small, drop-like specimens with weak signs of spiral coiling are attributed to fish. Larger, heteropolar, spirally-coiled specimens...

  18. Geological evaluation on productibility of coal seam gas; Coal seam gas no chishitsugakuteki shigen hyoka ni tsuite

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Fujii, K [University of Shizuoka, Shizuoka (Japan). Faculty of Education

    1996-09-01

    Coal seam gas is also called coal bed methane gas, indicating the gas existing in coal beds. The gas is distinguished from the oil field based gas, and also called non-conventional type gas. Its confirmed reserve is estimated to be 24 trillion m {sup 3}, with the trend of its development seen worldwide as utilization of unused resource. For the necessity of cultivating relevant technologies in Japan, this paper considers processes of production, movement, stockpiling, and accumulation of the gas. Its productibility is controlled by thickness of a coal bed, degree of coalification, gas content, permeability, groundwater flow, and deposition structure. Gas generation potential is evaluated by existing conditions of coal and degree of coalification, and methane production by biological origin and thermal origin. Economically viable methane gas is mainly of the latter origin. Evaluating gas reserve potential requires identification of the whole mechanism of adsorption, accumulation and movement of methane gas. The gas is expected of effect on environmental aspects in addition to availability as utilization of unused energy. 5 figs.

  19. Zeolite facies and regional rank of bituminous coals

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kisch, H J

    1966-01-01

    The author has correlated diagnostic analcime-, heulandite-, and laumontite-bearing mineral assemblages from four areas in the Upper Carboniferous and the Permian of New South Wales with the rank of the associated coals, represented by the carbon content of vitrinite. The results show that lowest-grade regional metamorphism of the zeolite facies reflects at least in part the same physical conditions of metamorphism as the increase in degree of coalification (rank) in the bituminous coal range. Degree of coalification is probably independent of partial pressures of H/sub 2/O and CO/sub 2/: it is controlled mainly by maximum depth of burial, its duration, and the geothermal gradient.

  20. 3D representation of geological observations in underground mine workings of the Upper Silesian Coal Basin

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marek Marcisz

    Full Text Available The purpose of the paper is to present the possibilities of the three-dimensional representation of geological strata in underground (access workings in a hard coal deposit in the SW part of the Upper Silesian Coal Basin, using CAD software and its flagship program AutoCAD. The 3D visualization of the results of underground workings’ mapping is presented and illustrated on two opening out workings (descending galleries. The criteria for choosing these workings were based on their length and the complexity of geological settings observed while they were driven. The described method may be applied in spatial visualization of geological structures observed in other deposits, mines and existing workings (it is not applicable for designing mine workings, also beyond the area of the Upper Silesian Coal Basin (USCB. The method presented describes the problem of the visualization of underground mine workings in a typical geological aspect, considering (aimed at detailed visualization of geological settings revealed on the side walls of workings cutting the deposit. Keywords: Upper silesian coal basin, Hard coal, Underground mine workings, 3D visualization, CAD

  1. Impact of bearing plates dimensions on interaction of mine workings support and rock mass

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marek Rotkegel

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available The aim of the research presented in this article is to assess the impact of bearing plates dimensions on the interaction of steel arch support and rock mass. The analysis of the bearing plates was based on laboratory tests and numerical calculations using the FLAC3D program (a finite difference method and the strain-hardening/softening model based on prescribed variations of Mohr–Coulomb properties. The article presents the results of laboratory tests on selected bearing plates and the results of numerical analysis of the interaction between the bearing plates and rock mass with coal, clay stone and sandstone properties.

  2. Paleocene-Eocene and Plio-Pleistocene sea-level changes as "species pumps" in Southeast Asia: Evidence from Althepus spiders.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Fengyuan; Li, Shuqiang

    2018-05-17

    Sea-level change has been viewed as a primary driver in the formation of biodiversity. Early studies confirmed that Plio-Pleistocene sea-level changes led to the isolation and subsequent genetic differentiation of Southeast (SE) Asian organisms over short geological timescales. However, long-time consequences of sea-level fluctuations remain unclear. Herein, we analyze the evolutionary history of Althepus (spiders) whose distribution encompasses Indo-Burma and the Sunda shelf islands to understand how sea-level changes over shallow and deep timescales effected their history. Our integrative analyses, including phylogeny, divergence times, ancestral area reconstruction and diversification dynamics, reveal an intricate pattern of diversification, probably triggered by sea-level fluctuations during the Paleocene-Eocene and Plio-Pleistocene. The timing of one early divergence between the Indo-Burmese and Sundaic species coincides with late Paleocene and early Eocene high global sea levels, which induced the formation of inland seaways in the Thai-Malay Peninsula. Subsequent lowered sea levels could have provided a land bridge for its dispersal colonization across the Isthmus of Kra. Analyses suggest that Plio-Pleistocene sea-level rises contributed to recent divergence of many species. Thus, our findings cannot reject the hypothesis that sea-level changes during the Paleocene-Eocene and Plio-Pleistocene played a major role in generating biodiversity in SE Asia; sea-level changes can act as "species pumps". Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  3. Assessment of the radiation risk following from exploitation of Polish brown coals. Part 1. Brown coal in Polish industry; preparation of the method of determining the concentrations of main natural radioisotopes appearing in brown coal and its combustion products

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jasinska, M.; Niewiadomski, T.; Schwabenthan, J.

    1982-01-01

    Poland is rich in deposits of brown coal applicable for large-scale industry. These deposits are estimated at about 13.5.10 9 tons. In the near future, one-half of the electric power produced in Poland will be generated by power plants using brown coal. As a result, the yearly burden of the environment in Poland will amount to about 15.10 6 tons of ashes and slag, and about 0.79.10 6 tons of fly ash emitted into the atmosphere. Concentrations of radioactive elements in wastes following from the use of brown coal may in some cases be as much as 12 times higher that occuring from combustion products of lignite coal. Distribution of these wastes to the environment affects the population, through inhalation of fly-ashes, consumption of radioactively contaminated products and through living in dwellings constructed of building materials produced using industrial wastes. In order to determine the concentrations of 226 Ra, 232 Th and 40 K in brown coal and in products of its combustion, the method of identifying these elements through gamma-spectrometry has been prepared. Concentrations of 210 Pb and 210 Po will be determined using the method of electrodeposition on metallic silver, which has been tested in the laboratory. (author)

  4. Lance for injecting highly-loaded coal slurries into the blast furnace

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Illuminati, D.

    1991-10-29

    A lance is used to inject fuel oil into a blast furnace. This simple design permits conversion of coal water and coal tar slurries to a fine mist at very low flow rates. This design prevents the build-up of deposits which increases service life and steadies the flow rate.

  5. Ash transformation in suspension fired boilers co-firing coal and straw

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Zheng, Yuanjing; Jensen, Peter Arendt; Jensen, Anker Degn

    In this literature report is provided a status for the present knowledge level on ash properties when co-firing coal and biomass. The fly ash formed in boilers using co-firing of coal and straw do have a large influence on ash deposit formation, boiler corrosion, fly ash utilization and operation...

  6. Study of Coal Burst Source Locations in the Velenje Colliery

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Goran Vižintin

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available The Velenje coal mine (VCM is situated on the largest Slovenian coal deposit and in one of the thickest layers of coal known in the world. The thickness of the coal layer causes problems for the efficiency of extraction, since the majority of mining operations is within the coal layer. The selected longwall coal mining method with specific geometry, increasing depth of excavations, changes in stress state and naturally given geomechanical properties of rocks induce seismic events. Induced seismic events can be caused by caving processes, blasting or bursts of coal or the surrounding rock. For 2.5D visualization, data of excavations, ash content and calorific value of coal samples, hanging wall and footwall occurrence, subsidence of the surface and coal burst source locations were collected. Data and interpolation methods available in software package Surfer®12 were statistically analyzed and a Kriging (KRG interpolation method was chosen. As a result 2.5D visualizations of coal bursts source locations with geomechanical properties of coal samples taken at different depth in the coal seam in the VCM were made with data-visualization packages Surfer®12 and Voxler®3.

  7. Development of world coal reserves, their registration and their utilization

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bachmann, H

    1979-10-01

    This paper examines statistics on world coal production and world coal reserves with figures from 1860 to 1974 provided in tables and graphs. Eighty percent of the total world coal reserves (92% of world brown coal reserves) lie in the USA and USSR. The recent increase in total coal reserve estimates is due to exploration in western USA and in the USSR east of the Urals. Depth and thickness of the world's coal seams are shown in graphs and variations in coal quality are discussed. Problems associated with the anticipated substantial increase in coal production up to the year 2000 are considered. Encouraging higher coal production is the successful development of highly mechanized underground mining techniques and highly productive heavy surface mining equipment which allows excavation at increased depths. Surface mining is expected to make up 50% of total world mining operations in the near future. More complete deposit exploitation also contributes to higher coal production. Low international ship freight rates would facilitate future world coal trade. Obstacles are seen as: high, long term investments due to the fact that coal reserves lie far from populated and industrialized areas; opening new mines; transportation costs and infrastructure development.

  8. Organosilicon fluid for cooling coal combine motors

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Donets, I K; Dmitrenko, Yu N; Kovalev, Ye B; Sukhanov, V V; Tsingarelli, Ye P

    1983-01-01

    Results are presented of toxicological evaluation of the polymer organosilicon fluid FM-5.6AP which should be used as the cooling agent of the electric motors of coal combines. It was established that fluid FM-5.6AP belongs to the low-toxic substances that do not have skinresorptive, skin-damaging and cumulative effect, do not have a significant influence on phagocytosis of the coal dust, in depositing in the lungs and elimination. During experimental industrial tests of the motor using the fluid FM-5.6AP, no toxic effect of it on the body was revealed. The possibility is shown of using organosilicon fluid FM-5.6AP for cooling electric motors of coal combines.

  9. IMPACTS OF MARINE AEROSOLS ON SURFACE WATER CHEMISTRY AT BEAR BROOK WATERSHED, MAINE USA

    Science.gov (United States)

    The East Bear catchment at Bear Brook Watershed, Maine receives moderate (for the eastern U.S.) amounts of Cl- in wet and dry deposition. In 1989, Cl- in precipitation ranged from 2 to 55 eq/L. Dry, occult, and wet deposition plus evapotranspiration resulted in stream Cl- averagi...

  10. Coal background paper. Coal demand

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1997-01-01

    Statistical data are presented on coal demands in IEA and OECD member countries and in other countries. Coal coaking and coaking coal consumption data are tabulated, and IEA secretariat's coal demand projections are summarized. Coal supply and production data by countries are given. Finally, coal trade data are presented, broken down for hard coal, steam coal, coking coal (imports and export). (R.P.)

  11. Environmental aspects of coal trace elements

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Swaine, D.J.

    1992-01-01

    The increasing use of coal, especially for power production, means that more attention is being given to environmental aspects. Some matters, for example, acid mine drainage, acid deposition and the relevance of coal-derived carbon and nitrogen oxides to the greenhouse effect are still being investigated in order to find methods of mitigation. However, much less attention has been given to possible untoward effects from trace elements in coal during mining, preparation and use. Occasional emotional outbursts, based on insufficient evidence, focus attention on arsenic, lead, cadmium, mercury and uranium. The best way to counter such claims is to provide proper information as a basis for more informed judgments. The comments contained in this article are mostly based on work done at the Commonwealth Science and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO)

  12. Estimation of Scale Deposition in the Water Walls of an Operating Indian Coal Fired Boiler: Predictive Modeling Approach Using Artificial Neural Networks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kumari, Amrita; Das, Suchandan Kumar; Srivastava, Prem Kumar

    2016-04-01

    Application of computational intelligence for predicting industrial processes has been in extensive use in various industrial sectors including power sector industry. An ANN model using multi-layer perceptron philosophy has been proposed in this paper to predict the deposition behaviors of oxide scale on waterwall tubes of a coal fired boiler. The input parameters comprises of boiler water chemistry and associated operating parameters, such as, pH, alkalinity, total dissolved solids, specific conductivity, iron and dissolved oxygen concentration of the feed water and local heat flux on boiler tube. An efficient gradient based network optimization algorithm has been employed to minimize neural predictions errors. Effects of heat flux, iron content, pH and the concentrations of total dissolved solids in feed water and other operating variables on the scale deposition behavior have been studied. It has been observed that heat flux, iron content and pH of the feed water have a relatively prime influence on the rate of oxide scale deposition in water walls of an Indian boiler. Reasonably good agreement between ANN model predictions and the measured values of oxide scale deposition rate has been observed which is corroborated by the regression fit between these values.

  13. Depositional environments of the Jurassic Maghara main coal seam in north central Sinai, Egypt

    Science.gov (United States)

    Edress, Nader Ahmed Ahmed; Opluštil, Stanislav; Sýkorová, Ivana

    2018-04-01

    Twenty-eight channel samples with a cumulative thickness of about 4 m collected from three sections of the Maghara main coal seam in the middle Jurassic Safa Formation have been studied for their lithotype and maceral compositions to reconstruct the character of peat swamp, its hydrological regime and the predominating type of vegetation. Lithotype composition is a combination of dully lithotypes with duroclarain (19% of total cumulative thickness), clarodurain (15%), black durain (15%), and shaly coal (15%) and bright lithotypes represented by clarain (23%), vitrain (12%) and a small proportion of wild fire-generated fusain (1%). Maceral analyses revealed the dominance of vitrinite (70.6% on average), followed by liptinite (25.2%) and inertinite (8.1%). Mineral matter content is ∼9% on average and consists of clay, quartz and pyrite concentrate mostly at the base and the roof of the seam. Dominantly vitrinite composition of coal and extremely low fire- and oxidation-borne inertinite content, together with high Gelification Indices imply predomination of waterlogged anoxic conditions in the precursing mire with water tables mostly above the peat surface throughout most of the time during peat swamp formation. Increases in collotelinite contents and Tissue Preservation Index up the section, followed by a reversal trend in upper third of the coal section, further accompanied by a reversal trend in collodetrinite, liptodetrinite, alginite, sporinite and clay contents records a transition from dominately limnotelmatic and limnic at the lower part to dominately limnotelmatic with increase telmatic condition achieved in the middle part of coal. At the upper part of coal seam an opposite trend marks the return to limnic and limnotelmatic conditions in the final phases of peat swamp history and its subsequent inundation. The proportion of arborescent (mostly coniferous) and herbaceous vegetation varied throughout the section of the coal with tendency of increasing

  14. MERCURY EMISSIONS FROM COAL FIRED POWER PLANTS LOCAL IMPACTS ON HUMAN HEALTH RISK.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    SULLIVAN, T.M.; BOWERMAN, B.; ADAMS, J.; LIPFERT, F.; MORRIS, S.M.; BANDO, A.; PENA, R.; BLAKE, R.

    2005-12-01

    A thorough quantitative understanding of the processes of mercury emissions, deposition, and translocation through the food chain is currently not available. Complex atmospheric chemistry and dispersion models are required to predict concentration and deposition contributions, and aquatic process models are required to predict effects on fish. However, there are uncertainties in all of these predictions. Therefore, the most reliable method of understanding impacts of coal-fired power plants on Hg deposition is from empirical data. A review of the literature on mercury deposition around sources including coal-fired power plants found studies covering local mercury concentrations in soil, vegetation, and animals (fish and cows). There is strong evidence of enhanced local deposition within 3 km of the chlor-alkali plants, with elevated soil concentrations and estimated deposition rates of 10 times background. For coal-fired power plants, the data show that atmospheric deposition of Hg may be slightly enhanced. On the scale of a few km, modeling suggests that wet deposition may be increased by a factor of two or three over background. The measured data suggest lower increases of 15% or less. The effects of coal-fired plants seem to be less than 10% of total deposition on a national scale, based on emissions and global modeling. The following summarizes our findings from published reports on the impacts of local deposition. In terms of excesses over background the following increments have been observed within a few km of the plant: (1) local soil concentration Hg increments of 30%-60%, (2) sediment increments of 18-30%, (3) wet deposition increments of 11-12%, and (4) fish Hg increments of about 5-6%, based on an empirical finding that fish concentrations are proportional to the square root of deposition. Important uncertainties include possible reductions of RGM to Hg{sub 0} in power plant plumes and the role of water chemistry in the relationship between Hg

  15. Renal Cell Toxicity of Water-Soluble Coal Extracts from the Gulf Coast

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ojeda, A. S.; Ford, S.; Ihnat, M.; Gallucci, R. M.; Philp, P. R.

    2017-12-01

    In the Gulf Coast, many rural residents rely on private well water for drinking, cooking, and other domestic needs. A large portion of this region contains lignite coal deposits within shallow aquifers that potentially leach organic matter into the water supply. It is proposed that the organic matter leached from low-rank coal deposits contributes to the development of kidney disease, however, little work has been done to investigate the toxicity of coal extracts. In this study, human kidney cells (HK-2) were exposed to water-soluble extracts of Gulf Coast Coals to assess toxicity. Cell viability was measured by direct counts of total and necrotic cells. A dose-response curve was used to generate IC50 values, and the extracts showed significant toxicity that ranged from 0.5% w/v to 3% w/v IC50. The most toxic extract was from Louisiana where coal-derived organic material has been previously linked to high incidents of renal pelvic cancer (RPC). Although the toxic threshold measured in this study is significantly higher than the concentration of organic matter in the groundwater, typically affected areas may consume contaminated water over a lifetime. It is possible that the cumulative toxic effects of coal-derived material contribute to the development of disease.

  16. Melting Behavior of ashes from the co-combustion of coal and straw

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Arvelakis, Stelios; Frandsen, Flemming

    2007-01-01

    . The use of straw as a co-firing feedstock in traditional coal-fired plants is associated with operational problems, such as deposition, agglomeration, and/or corrosion, mainly because of the higher amounts of alkali metals and chlorine in straw compared to coal. This may lead to unscheduled shutdowns...

  17. The genesis and isotopic composition of carbonates associated with some Permian Australian coals

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gould, K.W.; Smith, J.W.

    1979-01-01

    Siderite and calcite are the two forms of carbonate commonly associated with Permian Australian coals. The former occurs as disseminated spherulites and is a product of the early post-depositional environment. Isotopic measurements show that the CO 2 fixed as siderite did not result from the direct oxidation of photosynthetically derived materials, but rather from the anaerobic fermentation of these. The higher concentrations of calcite are generally found towards the roofs of coal seams and are characterized by isotopic enrichments to delta 13 C values of +25% PDB. Isotopic exchange between CO 2 and CH 4 within the coal seam is postulated as the mechanism which leads to the formation of isotopically heavy CO 2 . At sites along the seam margins where the CO 2 escapes, interaction with circulating metal ions or preexisting calcite results in the deposition of ''heavy'' calcite. With increasing alteration of coal by thermal metamorphism, the 13 C content of calcites and finally siderites decreases so that it more nearly approaches that of the associated coal. (Auth.)

  18. Underground gasification of coal - possibilities and trends

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dushanov, D.; Minkova, V.

    1994-01-01

    A detailed historical review is given on the problem of underground coal gasification (UCG) with emphasis on its physical, chemical, technological and financial aspects. The experience of USA, Japan, former USSR, Belgium, UK and France is described. The feasibility of UCG in the Dobrudzhan Coal Bed in Bulgaria is discussed. The deposit has reserves of about 1.5 billion tones at relatively shallow depths. Almost the whole scale from long flame to dry coal is covered. According to its coalification degree the bed belongs to gas coal - V daf 35-40%; C daf 80-83%, eruption index = 1. Enriched samples has low sulfur content - 0.6-1.5% and low mineral content - 6-12%. Having in mind the lack of domestic natural gas and petroleum resources, the authors state that the utilisation of the bed will alleviate the energy problems in Bulgaria. 24 refs., 5 figs., 1 tab

  19. Nigerian coal analysis by PIXE and HEBS techniques

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Olabanji, S.O.

    1989-05-01

    PIXE and HEBS techniques were employed for the measurement of the concentrations of the major, minor and trace elements in Nigerian coal samples from a major deposit. The samples were irradiated with 2.55 MeV protons from the 3 MeV tandem accelerator (NEC 3 UDH) in Lund. The PIXE results are reported and compared with an earlier work on Nigerian coal using FNAA and INAA analytical techniques while the HEBS results are compared with ASTM previous results. The results corroborate the assertion that Nigerian coals are of weak and noncoking grades with low sulphur (0.82-0.99%) and relatively high hydrogen (4.49-5.16%) contents. The motivation for this work is partly due to the projected usage of coal as metallurgical feedstocks and as fuel, and partly because of the genuine concern about the concomitant environmental effects of the increased burning of coal. The knowledge of the concentration of all elements is important for the characterization of coal and the determination and control of its products. Economic parameters such as the ash contents and calorific values are associated with the concentrations of coal's constituents. (author). 11 refs, 1 fig., 4 tabs

  20. 75 FR 62137 - Notice of Public Meeting; Proposed Alluvial Valley Floor Coal Exchange Public Interest Factors...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-10-07

    ... exchange Federal coal deposits for Alluvial Valley Floor (AVF) fee coal pursuant to the Federal Land Policy...; MTM-99236] Notice of Public Meeting; Proposed Alluvial Valley Floor Coal Exchange Public Interest... Alluvial Valley Floor Environmental Assessment can be viewed on the BLM's Miles City Field Office Web page...

  1. Slag characterization and removal using pulse detonation for coal gasification. Quarterly research report, January 1, 1996--March 31, 1996

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Huque, Z.; Mei, D.; Biney, P.O.; Zhou, J.

    1996-03-25

    Microbeam Technologies Incorporated (MTI) is working with Prairie View to develop and demonstrate a new method to remove deposits from coal-fired utility boilers. MTI is providing background information on fuel properties, ash formation, ash deposition, and ash removal. In addition, MTI is providing deposits collected from a full scale utility boilers. Ash deposits on fireside heat exchange surfaces of power plants significantly decrease plant efficiency and are aggravated by variability in coal quality. Deposit formation is related to coal quality (chemical and physical characteristics of the inorganic material), system operating conditions, and system design. Variations in coal quality can significantly influence ash deposition on heat transfer surfaces resulting in decreased plant performance and availability. Ash accumulations on heat transfer surfaces require annual or semi-annual shutdowns for cleaning which result in cleaning costs and lost revenues from being off-line. In addition, maintaining slag flow in wet bottom boilers and cyclone-fired boilers can require co-firing of other fuels and outages to remove frozen slag resulting in decreased efficiency and availability. During this reporting period MTI performed analysis of deposits collected from full-scale utility boilers. Deposit samples were obtained from Basin Electric and from Northern States Power (NSP). The analyses were conducted using scanning electron microscopy/microprobe techniques as described in the past quarterly report. The chemical and physical properties of the deposits were determined. The results for sample collected from NSP`s Riverside plant are reported here.

  2. Mice housed on coal dust-contaminated sand: A model to evaluate the impacts of coal mining on health.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Caballero-Gallardo, Karina; Olivero-Verbel, Jesus

    2016-03-01

    Coal dust is the most important air pollutant in coal mining in regards to producing deleterious health effects. It permeates the surrounding environment threatening public health. The aim of this study was to evaluate the toxic effects associated with exposure to sand contaminated with coal dust particles below 38 μm in diameter, obtained from a mineral sample collected in the largest coal mine in South America, La Loma, Cesar, Colombia. Sterilized sand was spiked with coal dust to obtain concentrations ranging from zero to 4% coal dust. To model natural exposure, mice were housed for eight weeks in boxes containing this mixture as bedding after which, they were euthanized and blood and tissue samples were collected. Real time PCR analysis revealed an increase in Cyp1A1 mRNA for living on sand with coal dust concentrations greater than 2% compared to mice living on sand without coal dust. Unexpectedly, for mice on coal dust-polluted sand, Sod1, Scd1 and Nqo1 hepatic mRNA were downregulated. The Comet assay in peripheral blood cells and the micronucleus test in blood smears, showed a significant potential genotoxic effect only at the highest coal dust concentration. Histopathological analysis revealed vascular congestion and peribronchial inflammation in the lungs. A dose-response relationship for the presence of hepatic steatosis, vacuolization and nuclei enlargements was observed in the exposed animals. The data suggest living on a soil polluted with coal dust induces molecular, cellular and histopathological changes in mice. Accordingly, the proposed model can be used to identify deleterious effects of exposure to coal dust deposited in soils that may pose health risks for surrounding wildlife populations. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  3. Transformations of inorganic coal constituents in combustion systems. Volume 1, sections 1--5: Final report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Helble, J.J. [ed.; Srinivasachar, S.; Wilemski, G.; Boni, A.A. [PSI Technology Co., Andover, MA (United States); Kang, Shin-Gyoo; Sarofim, A.F.; Graham, K.A.; Beer, J.M. [Massachusetts Inst. of Tech., Cambridge, MA (United States); Peterson, T.W.; Wendt, J.O.L.; Gallagher, N.B.; Bool, L. [Arizona Univ., Tucson, AZ (United States); Huggins, F.E.; Huffman, G.P.; Shah, N.; Shah, A. [Kentucky Univ., Lexington, KY (United States)

    1992-11-01

    The inorganic constituents or ash contained in pulverized coal significantly increase the environmental and economic costs of coal utilization. For example, ash particles produced during combustion may deposit on heat transfer surfaces, decreasing heat transfer rates and increasing maintenance costs. The minimization of particulate emissions often requires the installation of cleanup devices such as electrostatic precipitators, also adding to the expense of coal utilization. Despite these costly problems, a comprehensive assessment of the ash formation and had never been attempted. At the start of this program, it was hypothesized that ash deposition and ash particle emissions both depended upon the size and chemical composition of individual ash particles. Questions such as: What determines the size of individual ash particles? What determines their composition? Whether or not particles deposit? How combustion conditions, including reactor size, affect these processes? remained to be answered. In this 6-year multidisciplinary study, these issues were addressed in detail. The ambitious overall goal was the development of a comprehensive model to predict the size and chemical composition distributions of ash produced during pulverized coal combustion. Results are described.

  4. An overview of coal preparation initiatives with application to coal conversion in South Africa

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Reinecke, C.F.; Bunt, J.R.

    1999-01-01

    Coal has for many years been the most important energy resource in South Africa and has contributed to more than 70 % of South Africa's energy needs in 1998. The large in-situ coal deposits (in excess of 120 x 10 9 t) and relatively large recoverable reserves (about 33.5 x 10 9 t) will ensure that coal will for many a year still be South Africa's single biggest energy resource. Biomass burning consumes approximately 11 Mt/a of which 8 Mt/a is natural wood. This equals natural wood production. The use of firewood is considered to be unsustainable. Of the 225 Mt/a of coal extracted in South Africa in 1998, 67.0 Mt/a was exported. Of this, 62.9 Mt/a were exported as steam coal, 2.1 Mt/a as metallurgical coal, and the rest as anthracite. Current exports are conducted via the Richards Bay terminal (63.6 Mt/a), Durban (2.0 Mt/a) and a small amount via Maputo. The Richards Bay terminal is to be expanded to 72 Mt/a by 1999. It is also very important to note that most of the coal resources possess calorific values of below 25 MJ/kg, which limits its utilization to power generation (Eskom) and processes such as fixed bed dry bottom gasification (Sasol). A break-down of production and usage of coal by the various controlling groups in South Africa shows that Sasol (54.2 Mt/a) and Escom (91.0 Mt/a) are major consumers of coal. It has been proposed earlier by Horsfall (1993) that for power generation and coal conversion, the in-situ quality is generally regarded as satisfactory for use. All that is required in the way of processing is crushing to an appropriate top size and, for conversion, screening of the unwashed coal. Most other consumers require some degree of beneficiation, which generally entails the removal of stone/shale and low quality coal. More recently, the introduction of destoning plants at Duvha Colliery (Larcodems) and New Vaal Colliery (Drewboy washers) has significantly reduced the abrasiveness content of these local thermal coals, together with an increase

  5. Mice housed on coal dust-contaminated sand: A model to evaluate the impacts of coal mining on health

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Caballero-Gallardo, Karina, E-mail: kcaballerog@unicartagena.edu.co; Olivero-Verbel, Jesus, E-mail: joliverov@unicartagena.edu.co

    2016-03-01

    Coal dust is the most important air pollutant in coal mining in regards to producing deleterious health effects. It permeates the surrounding environment threatening public health. The aim of this study was to evaluate the toxic effects associated with exposure to sand contaminated with coal dust particles below 38 μm in diameter, obtained from a mineral sample collected in the largest coal mine in South America, La Loma, Cesar, Colombia. Sterilized sand was spiked with coal dust to obtain concentrations ranging from zero to 4% coal dust. To model natural exposure, mice were housed for eight weeks in boxes containing this mixture as bedding after which, they were euthanized and blood and tissue samples were collected. Real time PCR analysis revealed an increase in Cyp1A1 mRNA for living on sand with coal dust concentrations greater than 2% compared to mice living on sand without coal dust. Unexpectedly, for mice on coal dust-polluted sand, Sod1, Scd1 and Nqo1 hepatic mRNA were downregulated. The Comet assay in peripheral blood cells and the micronucleus test in blood smears, showed a significant potential genotoxic effect only at the highest coal dust concentration. Histopathological analysis revealed vascular congestion and peribronchial inflammation in the lungs. A dose–response relationship for the presence of hepatic steatosis, vacuolization and nuclei enlargements was observed in the exposed animals. The data suggest living on a soil polluted with coal dust induces molecular, cellular and histopathological changes in mice. Accordingly, the proposed model can be used to identify deleterious effects of exposure to coal dust deposited in soils that may pose health risks for surrounding wildlife populations. - Highlights: • Mice were exposed to coal dust-contaminated sand. • mRNA Markers for PAH exposure, lipid metabolism and oxidative stress increased. • ALT activity in plasma increased at the highest exposure to coal dust. • Liver tissues of exposed

  6. Paleocene orthophragminids from the Lakadong Limestone, Mawmluh Quarry section, Meghalaya (Shillong, NE India): implications for the regional geology and paleobiogeography

    Science.gov (United States)

    Özcan, Ercan; Pignatti, Johannes; Pereira, Christer; Osman Yücel, Ali; Drobne, Katica; Barattolo, Filippo; Saraswati, Pratul Kumar

    2018-04-01

    The late Paleocene orthophragminids, hitherto poorly known from the Himalayan foreland basins, are studied from the Lakadong Limestone in Meghalaya, northeastern India, in order to establish a systematic, biostratigraphic, and paleobiogeographical framework for them in the eastern Tethys. In the Mawmluh Quarry section (MQS) on the Shillong Plateau, to the southeast of Tibet, orthophragminids are associated with typical Paleocene orbitoidiform taxa endemic to the Indian subcontinent, i.e., Lakadongia Matsumaru & Jauhri ( = Setia Ferràndez-Cañadell) and Orbitosiphon Rao, and various species of alveolinids, miscellaneids, and rotaliids, characterizing the Shallow Benthic Zones (SBZ) 3 and 4. The orthophragminids belong to two lineages of the genus Orbitoclypeus Silvestri: O. schopeni (Checchia-Rispoli) and O. multiplicatus (Gümbel), both well known from the peri-Mediterranean region and Europe (western Tethys). The latter species is identified here for the first time from the eastern Tethys. Previous records of the genus Discocyclina Gümbel from the Lakadong Limestone actually correspond to misidentified Orbitoclypeus; this implies that the late Paleocene orthophragminid assemblages from Meghalaya and eastern Tethys were less diverse than in the western Tethys. The lineage of Orbitoclypeus schopeni in the lower part of the Lakadong Limestone (SBZ 3) is identified as O. schopeni cf. ramaraoi based on the morphometry of a few specimens, whereas in the upper part (SBZ 4) it corresponds to a transitional development stage between O. schopeni ramaraoi and O. schopeni neumannae (with average Dmean values ranging between 192 and 199 µm). The embryon diameters of O. multiplicatus, recorded only in SBZ 4, range between 300 and 319 µm on average, corresponding to transitional development stages of O. multiplicatus haymanaensis and O. multiplicatus multiplicatus. Our data, along with a review of previous Paleocene and Eocene records from India and Pakistan, suggest that

  7. Impact of shallowly deposited ore-bearing dolomites on local soil pollution aureoles of As, Cd, Pb, and Zn in an old mining area

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Fabijanczyk, Piotr; Zawadzki, Jaroslaw [Warsaw Univ. of Technology (Poland). Environmental Engineering Faculty

    2012-10-15

    The study area, located in Upper Silesian Industrial Region, was rich in significant amounts of ores that were classified of Mississippi Valley type. Being these ores especially rich in Pb and Zn, an intense development of mining and ore extraction industry was verified in this area. The goal of this study was to investigate how local pollution aureoles of As, Cd, Pb, and Zn were influenced by the presence of shallowly deposited ore-bearing dolomites. Very extensive sampling campaign was carried out, and over 1,000 samples were collected in the area of about 150 km{sup 2}. Local aureoles of investigated metals were calculated for two soil layers. The first one covered the part of soil core from the soil surface to the depth of 20 cm and the second one from the depth of 40 cm to the depth of 60 cm. All spatial distributions of particular metals in soil were calculated by means of ordinary kriging using free softwares QGIS and SAGA. Maximum concentrations of Pb and Zn in soil in study area were very high, reaching over 24,000 and 77,000 mg/kg, respectively. Maximum concentrations of As and Cd were also very high, reaching about 1,000 mg/kg. Those maximum values were observed in the direct vicinity of the Boles?aw mine and its mine dumps. Almost all local aureoles were located within the range of ore-bearing dolomites. It was especially visible for Pb and Zn, minerals very common in ore deposits. Otherwise, local aureoles of As and Cd were more related with the vicinity of mines and other pollution sources, being more associated to the anthropogenic pollution than to the presence of ore-bearing dolomites. The aureoles of Pb and Zn, and in moderate degree of As, were associated with a mineral composition of ores. Differently, the location, the shape, and spatial pattern of Cd aureoles suggest that they were mostly influenced by anthropogenic pollution. Anthropogenic factors were dominating over the lithogenic ones and masking the influence of the shallowly deposited

  8. The Archean komatiite-hosted, PGE-bearing Ni-Cu sulfide deposit at Vaara, eastern Finland: evidence for assimilation of external sulfur and post-depositional desulfurization

    Science.gov (United States)

    Konnunaho, J. P.; Hanski, E. J.; Bekker, A.; Halkoaho, T. A. A.; Hiebert, R. S.; Wing, B. A.

    2013-12-01

    Archean komatiites host important resources of Ni, Cu, Co, and PGE, particularly in Western Australia and Canada. In Finland, several small, low-grade sulfide deposits have been found in komatiites, including the ca. 2.8 Ga Vaara deposit in the Archean Suomussalmi greenstone belt. It occurs in the central part of the serpentinized olivine cumulate zone of a komatiitic extrusive body and is composed of disseminated interstitial sulfides consisting of pyrite, pentlandite, millerite, violarite, and chalcopyrite accompanied by abundant magnetite. Although currently subeconomic, the mineralization is interesting due to the very high chalcophile element contents of the sulfide fraction (38 wt% Ni, 3.4 wt% Cu, 0.7 wt% Co, 22.4 ppm Pd, and 9.5 ppm Pt). The sulfides occur in relatively Cr-poor olivine cumulates suggesting involvement of a chromite-undersaturated magma. The parental magma was an Al-undepleted komatiite with an estimated MgO content of at least 24 wt%. In contrast to the common komatiite types in the eastern Finland greenstone belts, the Vaara rocks are moderately enriched in LREE relative to MREE, suggesting that crustal contamination played an important role in the genesis of the Vaara deposit. Multiple sulfur isotope data reveal considerable mass-independent sulfur isotope fractionation both in country rock sedimentary sulfides (Δ33S ranges from -0.50 to +2.37 ‰) and in the Vaara mineralization (Δ33S ranges from +0.53 to +0.66 ‰), which provides strong evidence for incorporation of crustal sulfur. Extensive replacement of interstitial sulfides by magnetite and the presence of millerite- and violarite-bearing, pyrrhotite-free sulfide assemblages indicate significant post-magmatic, low-temperature hydrothermal oxidation of the primary magmatic pyrrhotite-pentlandite-chalcopyrite assemblages and associated sulfur loss that led to a significant upgrading of the original metal tenors of the Vaara deposit.

  9. Geochemistry of environmentally sensitive trace elements in Permian coals from the Huainan coalfield, Anhui, China

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, J.; Liu, Gaisheng; Jiang, M.; Chou, C.-L.; Li, H.; Wu, B.; Zheng, Lingyun; Jiang, D.

    2011-01-01

    To study the geochemical characteristics of 11 environmentally sensitive trace elements in the coals of the Permian Period from the Huainan coalfield, Anhui province, China, borehole samples of 336 coals, two partings, and four roof and floor mudstones were collected from mineable coal seams. Major elements and selected trace elements were determined by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES), inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), and hydride generation atomic absorption spectrometry (HAAS). The depositional environment, abundances, distribution, and modes of occurrence of trace elements were investigated. Results show that clay and carbonate minerals are the principal inorganic constituents in the coals. A lower deltaic plain, where fluvial channel systems developed successively, was the likely depositional environment of the Permian coals in the Huainan coalfield. All major elements have wider variation ranges than those of Chinese coals except for Mg and Fe. The contents of Cr, Co, Ni, and Se are higher than their averages for Chinese coals and world coals. Vertical variations of trace elements in different formations are not significant except for B and Ba. Certain roof and partings are distinctly higher in trace elements than underlying coal bench samples. The modes of occurrence of trace elements vary in different coal seams as a result of different coal-forming environments. Vanadium, Cr, and Th are associated with aluminosilicate minerals, Ba with carbonate minerals, and Cu, Zn, As, Se, and Pb mainly with sulfide minerals. ?? 2011 Elsevier B.V.

  10. Transient dwarfism of soil fauna during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, Jon J; Hasiotis, Stephen T; Kraus, Mary J; Woody, Daniel T

    2009-10-20

    Soil organisms, as recorded by trace fossils in paleosols of the Willwood Formation, Wyoming, show significant body-size reductions and increased abundances during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM). Paleobotanical, paleopedologic, and oxygen isotope studies indicate high temperatures during the PETM and sharp declines in precipitation compared with late Paleocene estimates. Insect and oligochaete burrows increase in abundance during the PETM, suggesting longer periods of soil development and improved drainage conditions. Crayfish burrows and molluscan body fossils, abundant below and above the PETM interval, are significantly less abundant during the PETM, likely because of drier floodplain conditions and lower water tables. Burrow diameters of the most abundant ichnofossils are 30-46% smaller within the PETM interval. As burrow size is a proxy for body size, significant reductions in burrow diameter suggest that their tracemakers were smaller bodied. Smaller body sizes may have resulted from higher subsurface temperatures, lower soil moisture conditions, or nutritionally deficient vegetation in the high-CO(2) atmosphere inferred for the PETM. Smaller soil fauna co-occur with dwarf mammal taxa during the PETM; thus, a common forcing mechanism may have selected for small size in both above- and below-ground terrestrial communities. We predict that soil fauna have already shown reductions in size over the last 150 years of increased atmospheric CO(2) and surface temperatures or that they will exhibit this pattern over the next century. We retrodict also that soil fauna across the Permian-Triassic and Triassic-Jurassic boundary events show significant size decreases because of similar forcing mechanisms driven by rapid global warming.

  11. Transient dwarfism of soil fauna during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, J.J.; Hasiotis, S.T.; Kraus, M.J.; Woody, D.T.

    2009-01-01

    Soil organisms, as recorded by trace fossils in paleosols of the Willwood Formation, Wyoming, show significant body-size reductions and increased abundances during the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM). Paleobotanical, paleopedologic, and oxygen isotope studies indicate high temperatures during the PETM and sharp declines in precipitation compared with late Paleocene estimates. Insect and oligochaete burrows increase in abundance during the PETM, suggesting longer periods of soil development and improved drainage conditions. Crayfish burrows and molluscan body fossils, abundant below and above the PETM interval, are significantly less abundant during the PETM, likely because of drier floodplain conditions and lower water tables. Burrow diameters of the most abundant ichnofossils are 30-46% smaller within the PETM interval. As burrow size is a proxy for body size, significant reductions in burrow diameter suggest that their tracemakers were smaller bodied. Smaller body sizes may have resulted from higher subsurface temperatures, lower soil moisture conditions, or nutritionally deficient vegetation in the high-CO2 atmosphere inferred for the PETM. Smaller soil fauna co-occur with dwarf mammal taxa during the PETM; thus, a common forcing mechanism may have selected for small size in both above- and below-ground terrestrial communities. We predict that soil fauna have already shown reductions in size over the last 150 years of increased atmospheric CO2 and surface temperatures or that they will exhibit this pattern over the next century. We retrodict also that soil fauna across the Permian-Triassic and Triassic-Jurassic boundary events show significant size decreases because of similar forcing mechanisms driven by rapid global warming.

  12. Correlation chart of Pennsylvanian rocks in Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, Maryland, and Pennsylvania showing approximate position of coal beds, coal zones, and key stratigraphic units: Chapter D.2 in Coal and petroleum resources in the Appalachian basin: distribution, geologic framework, and geochemical character

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ruppert, Leslie F.; Trippi, Michael H.; Slucher, Ernie R.; Ruppert, Leslie F.; Ryder, Robert T.

    2014-01-01

    The Appalachian basin, one of the largest Pennsylvanian bituminous coal-producing regions in the world, currently contains nearly one-half of the top 15 coal-producing States in the United States (Energy Information Agency, 2006). Anthracite of Pennsylvanian age occurs in synclinal basins in eastern Pennsylvania, but production is minimal. A simplified correlation chart was compiled from published and unpublished sources as a means of visualizing currently accepted stratigraphic relations between the rock formations, coal beds, coal zones, and key stratigraphic units in Alabama, Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, West Virginia, Ohio, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. The thickness of each column is based on chronostratigraphic divisions (Lower, Middle, and Upper Pennsylvanian), not the thickness of strata. Researchers of Pennsylvanian strata in the Appalachian basin also use biostratigraphic markers and other relative and absolute geologic age associations between the rocks to better understand the spatial relations of the strata. Thus, the stratigraphic correlation data in this chart should be considered provisional and will be updated as coal-bearing rocks within the Appalachian coal regions continue to be evaluated.

  13. Application of stable isotopes to hydrogeology in coal mine

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Duan Qi; Duan Yucheng

    1988-01-01

    Stable isotopes including Oxygen-18 and Deuterium have been applied to investigation of hydrogeology in main coal mines. By determination of stable isotopic composition of hydrogen and oxygen together with water analysis, the following studies have been developed: Identification of the hydrogeochemical characteristics of the groundwater from varied aquifers; Analysis of the hydraulic relationship between varied aquifers; Interpretation of the probable recharge source of mine water. The research results mentioned above reveal that: 1. The groundwater from main aquifers at coal mines in north China is of meteoric origin, which is recharged from hilly area surrounding the coal mine. Its isotopic composition differs slightly from that of the local precipitation. 2. There is a mutual hydraulic relationship between the Ordovician and Quarternary aquifers, so the difference of isotopic composition is very small. 3. By way of the variation of isotopic composition of groundwater from coal-bearing strata, we can infer the hydraulic relationship extent between overlaid alluvial layer and underlaid Ordovician limestone. (author). 9 refs, 6 figs, 8 tabs

  14. The ENDESA group in Spanish coal mining. El Grupo ENDESA en la mineria espanola del carbon

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    1987-01-01

    The ENDESA group, the largest producer of coal and electricity in Spain, plays an important role in the energy sector within the sub-divisions of coal and electricity. ENDESA, the principal company within the group, was created in 1944 with the immediate objective of constructing the Compostilla I thermal power station in Ponferrada (Leon), in order to make use of the high quality coal in the Bierzo coalfield, for which, at that time, there was no demand. Later, in 1972, ENDESA acquired the brown lignite deposit of As Pontes (La Coruna) for opencast working and the sub-bituminous coal deep mines of Andorra (Teruel). The two thermal power stations were constructed on the mine sites to use the coal extracted. ENCASUR with deposits in Penarroya (Cordoba) and Puertollano (Ciudad Real) and GESA, through its subsidiary LIGNITOS SA in Mallorca, make up the coal mining activities of the ENDESA group. The role of the ENDESA group is defined by its production levels (41% of the national level), its purchases of indigenous coal (30% of the non-ENDESA group total) and of imported coal (61% of the total imported for use in power stations). In total, this means that the ENDESA group represents 51% of the Spanish coal market. 54 figs., 20 tabs.

  15. Chemical and Pyrolytic Thermogravimetric Characterization of Nigerian Bituminous Coals

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nyakuma Bemgba Bevan

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available The discovery of new coal deposits in Nigeria presents solutions for nation’s energy crises and prospects for socioeconomic growth and sustainable development. Furthermore, the quest for sustainable energy to limit global warming, climate change, and environmental degradation has necessitated the exploration of alternatives using cleaner technologies such as coal pyrolysis. However, a lack of comprehensive data on physico-chemical and thermal properties of Nigerian coals has greatly limited their utilization. Therefore, the physico-chemical properties, rank (classification, and thermal decomposition profiles of two Nigerian bituminous coals – Afuze (AFZ and Shankodi-Jangwa (SKJ – were examined in this study. The results indicate that the coals contain high proportions of C, H, N, S, O and a sufficiently high heating value (HHV for energy conversion. The coal classification revealed that the Afuze (AFZ coal possesses a higher rank, maturity, and coal properties compared to the Shankodi-Jangwa (SKJ coal. A thermal analysis demonstrated that coal pyrolysis in both cases occurred in three stages; drying (30-200 °C, devolatilization (200-600 °C, and char decomposition (600-1000 °C. The results also indicated that pyrolysis at 1000 °C is not sufficient for complete pyrolysis. In general, the thermochemical and pyrolytic fuel properties indicate that the coal from both places can potentially be utilized for future clean energy applications.

  16. Coal Fields and Federal Lands of the Conterminous United States

    Science.gov (United States)

    Biewick, Laura

    1997-01-01

    The map depicts the relationship of coal and public lands in the conterminous U. S. Multiple GIS layers are being created for the purpose of deriving estimates of how much coal is owned and administered by the Federal government. Federal coal areas have a profound effect on land-management decisions. Regulatory agencies attempt to balance energy development with alternative land-use and environmental concerns. A GIS database of Federal lands used in energy resource assessments is being developed by the U. S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to integrate information on status of public land, and minerals owned by the Federal government with geologic information on coal resources, other spatial data, coal quality characteristics, and coal availability for development. Using national-scale data we estimate that approximately 60 percent of the area underlain by coal-bearing rocks in the conterminous United States are under Federal surface. Coal produced from Federal leases has tripled from about 12 percent of the total U.S. production in 1976 to almost 34 percent in 1995 (Energy Information Administration website ftp://ftp.eia.doe.gov/pub/coal/cia_95_tables/t13p01.txt). The reason for this increase is demand for low-sulfur coal for use in power plants and the fact that large reserves of this low-sulfur coal are in the western interior U.S., where the Federal government owns the rights to most of the coal reserves. The map was created using Arc/Info 7.0.3 on a UNIX system. The HPGL2 plot file for this map is available from the USGS Energy Resource Surveys Team from http://energy.cr.usgs.gov:8080/energy/coal.html.

  17. Effects and quantification of acid runoff from sulfide-bearing rock deposited during construction of Highway E18, Norway

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hindar, Atle; Nordstrom, D. Kirk

    2015-01-01

    The Highway E18 between the cities of Grimstad and Kristiansand, southern Norway, constructed in the period 2006–2009, cuts through sulfide-bearing rock. The geology of this area is dominated by slowly-weathering gneiss and granites, and oxidation of fresh rock surfaces can result in acidification of surface water. Sulfide-containing rock waste from excavations during construction work was therefore deposited in three waste rock deposits off-site. The deposits consist of 630,000–2,360,000 metric tons of waste rock material. Shell sand and limestone gravel were added in layers in adequate amounts to mitigate initial acid runoff in one of the deposits. The shell sand addition was not adequate in the two others. The pH in the effluents from these two was reduced from 4.9–6.5 to 4.0–4.6, and Al concentrations increased from below 0.4 mg/L to 10–20 mg/L. Stream concentrations of trace metals increased by a factor of 25–400, highest for Ni, and then in decreasing order for Co, Mn, Cd, Zn and Cu. Concentrations of As, Cr and Fe remained unchanged. Ratios of Co/Ni and Cd/Zn indicate that the metal sources for these pair of metals are sphalerite and pyrite, respectively. Based on surveys and established critical limits for Al, surface waters downstream became toxic to fish and invertebrates. The sulfur release rates were remarkably stable in the monitoring period at all three sites. Annual sulfur release was 0.1–0.4% of the total amount of sulfur in the deposit, indicating release periods of 250–800 years. Precipitates of Al-hydroxysulfates, well-known from mining sites, were found at the base of the deposits, in streams and also along the ocean shore-line. The effects of added neutralization agents in the deposits and in treatment areas downstream gradually decreased, as indicated by reduced stream pH over time. Active measures are needed to avoid harmful ecological effects in the future.

  18. Revised stratigraphy of the Permian Bainmedart coal measures, northern Prince Charles Mountains, east Antarctica

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    McLoughlin, S.; Drinnan, A.N. [University of Melbourne, Parkville, Vic. (Australia). School of Botany

    1997-05-01

    The Bainmedart Coal Measures constitute the middle portion of the Permian-Triassic Amery Group, which represents the only substantial Palaeozoic-Mesozoic sedimentary succession exposed in eastern Antarctica outside the Transantarctic Mountains. The coal measures overlie alluvial fan deposits of the Radok Conglomerate and are conformably overlain by the dominantly fluviatile Flagstone Bench Formation. The coal measures were deposited within alluvial settings dominated by north to northeasterly flowing, low-sinuosity rivers chiefly confined to broad, fault-bounded, valleys of the Lambert Graben, a major late Palaeozoic to early Mesozoic failed rift system. Both climatic and local tectonic factors are considered to have been the major influences on the pattern of coal measure sedimentation. Recent mapping has identified a much greater thickness of sediments within the coal measures than had been inferred previously. The Bainmedart Coal Measures are formally subdivided into six members. In ascending stratigraphic order these are: Dart Fields Conglomerate Member ({lt} 3m thick), Toploje Member (300 m thick), Dragons Teeth Member (15-25 m thick), Glossopteris Gully Member (670 m thick), Grainer Member (350 m thick), acid McKinnon Member (530 m thick).

  19. Tectonic Reorganization and the Cause of Paleocene and Eocene pCO2 Anomalies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Austermann, Jacqueline; Carter, Laura B.; Middleton, Jennifer; Stellmann, Jessica; Pyle, Lacey

    2017-04-01

    Oxygen isotope records reveal that deep-sea temperatures were relatively stable in the early and mid Paleocene before they rose by approx. 4°C to peak in the early Eocene. This Early Eocene Climate Optimum was followed by a 17 Myr cooling trend that led to the onset of Antarctic glaciation at the end of the Eocene. Several studies have examined the potential influence of perturbations to the sinks and sources of atmospheric carbon as mechanisms for the temperature drawdown over the Eocene. Examination of the changing magnitude of carbon sinks has focused on the importance of increased weathering associated with the uplift of the Tibetan plateau (Raymo and Ruddiman, 1992), the continental drift of basaltic provinces through the equatorial humid belt (Kent and Muttoni, 2013), or the emplacement of ophiolites during arc-continent collision in the face of a closing Tethys ocean (Jagoutz et al., 2016). With respect to carbon sources, the shutdown of Tethys subduction and related arc volcanism has been argued to significantly decrease carbon emissions and consequently global temperatures (Hoareau et al., 2015). In this study, we re-assess and quantify proposed atmospheric carbon sinks and sources to obtain an integrated picture of carbon flux changes over the Paleocene and Eocene and to estimate the relative importance of different mechanisms. To constrain carbon sources, we attempt to calculate the outgassing associated with large igneous provinces, mid-ocean ridges and volcanic arcs. We use plate reconstructions to track changes in length and divergence / convergence rates at plate boundaries as well as account for the onset and extinction of volcanic arcs. To constrain carbon sinks, we account for the sequestering of carbon due to silicate weathering and organic carbon burial. We again make use of plate reconstructions to trace highly weatherable arc systems and basaltic extrusions through the tropical humid belt and to assess the interplay between warmer Eocene

  20. Carbon formation and metal dusting in hot-gas cleanup systems of coal gasifiers

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Judkins, R.R.; Tortorelli, P.F.; Judkins, R.R.; DeVan, J.H.; Wright, I.G. [Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (United States). Metals and Ceramics Div.

    1995-11-01

    The product gas resulting from the partial oxidation of Carboniferous materials in a gasifier is typically characterized by high carbon and sulfur, but low oxygen, activities and, consequently, severe degradation of the structural and functional materials can occur. The objective of this task was to establish the potential risks of carbon deposition and metal dusting in advanced coal gasification processes by examining the current state of knowledge regarding these phenomena, making appropriate thermochemical calculations for representative coal gasifiers, and addressing possible mitigation methods. The paper discusses carbon activities, iron-based phase stabilities, steam injection, conditions that influence kinetics of carbon deposition, and influence of system operating parameters on carbon deposition and metal dusting.

  1. The Nokomis Cu-Ni-PGE Deposit, Duluth Complex: A sulfide-bearing, crystal-laden magmatic slurry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peterson, D. M.

    2009-12-01

    deposit. A fundamental aspect of the ever-developing ore deposit model is an understanding of the initial conditions of the magmatic system - its crystallinity, sulfur capacity, geochemistry, and geometry - and how the sulfur saturated SKI magma lived, worked, and died. Such understanding includes the realization that the magma was a crystal-liquid (silicate and sulfide liquids) slurry and the identification of magma channelways and sub-channels and their associated thermal anomalies. In addition, the SKI magmas locally melted the footwall granitoid rocks, and such melts have been incorporated into the sulfide-bearing troctolitic melts of the SKI. In the end, hard work (>16,000 outcrops mapped, ~20,000 geochemical analyses completed, and >155,000 meters of core drilled) and intellectual geologic thought has been used to identify one of the world’s largest resources of Cu-Ni-PGEs.

  2. Coal: security of supply and energy diversity. Carbon: seguridad de abastecimiento y diversificacion energetica

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gonzalez-Irun Sanchez, G [Carboex, Madrid (Spain)

    1991-08-01

    Commences by reviewing the advantages of coal as a fuel source, namely: large availability of reserves; deposits located in every continent; life of reserves estimated to be hundreds of years. These three aspects make coal an extremely reliable energy source. 3 figs.

  3. Utilizing coal remaining resources and post-mining land use planning based on GIS-based optimization method : study case at PT Adaro coal mine in South Kalimantan

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohamad Anis

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available Coal mining activities may cause a series of environmental and socio-economic issues in communities around the mining area. Mining can become an obstacle to environmental sustainability and a major hidden danger to the security of the local ecology. Therefore, the coal mining industry should follow some specific principles and factors in achieving sustainable development. These factors include geological conditions, land use, mining technology, environmental sustainability policies and government regulations, socio-economic factors, as well as sustainability optimization for post-mining land use. Resources of the remains of the coal which is defined as the last remaining condition of the resources and reserves of coal when the coal companies have already completed the life of the mine or the expiration of the licensing contract (in accordance with government permission. This research uses approch of knowledge-driven GIS based methods mainly Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP and Fuzzy logic for utilizing coal remaining resources and post-mining land use planning. The mining area selected for this study belongs to a PKP2B (Work Agreement for Coal Mining company named Adaro Indonesia (PT Adaro. The result shows that geologically the existing formation is dominated by Coal Bearing Formation (Warukin Formation which allows the presence of remains coal resource potential after the lifetime of mine, and the suitability of rubber plantation for the optimization of land use in all mining sites and also in some disposal places in conservation areas and protected forests.

  4. NONEQUILIBRIUM SULFUR CAPTURE AND RETENTION IN AN AIR COOLED SLAGGING COAL COMBUSTOR

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dr. Bert Zauderer

    1999-01-01

    Calcium oxide injected in a slagging combustor reacts with the sulfur from coal combustion to form sulfur-bearing particles. They are deposited on the liquid slag layer on the combustor wall. Due to the low solubility of sulfur in slag, slag must be rapidly drained from the combustor to limit sulfur gas re-evolution. Analysis indicated that slag mass flow rates in excess of 400 lb/hr should limit sulfur re-evolution. The objective of this 42-month project was to perform a series of tests to determine the factors that control the retention of the sulfur in the slag. 36 days of testing on the combustor were completed prior to the end of this reporting period, 12/31/98. This compares with 16 tests required in the original project plan. Combustor tests in early 1997 with high (37%) ash, Indian coal confirmed that high slag mass flow rates of about 500 lb/hr resulted in retention in the slag of up to 20% of the injected sulfur content mineral matter. To further increase the slag flow rate, rice husks, which contain 20% ash, and rice husk char, which contain 70% ash, were co-fired with coal in the combustor. A series of 13 combustor tests were performed in fourth quarter of 1997 and a further 6 tests were performed in January 1998 and in the summer of 1998. The test objective was to achieve slag flow rates between 500 and 1,000 lb/hr. Due to the very low bulk density of rice husk, compared to pulverized coal, almost the entire test effort focused on developing methods for feeding the rice husks into combustor. In the last test of December 1997, a peak mineral matter, injection rate of 592 lb/hr was briefly achieved by injection of coal, rice husk char, gypsum, and limestone into the combustor. However, no significant sulfur concentration was measured in the slag removed from the combustor. The peak injection rate reached with biomass in the 1997 tests was 310 lb/hr with rice husk, and 584 lb/hr with rice husk char

  5. Coal Ash Aerosol in East Asian Outflow as a Source for Oceanic Deposition of Iron and Other Metals

    Science.gov (United States)

    Anderson, J. R.; Hua, X.

    2008-12-01

    While ocean deposition of East Asian dust is given significant emphasis as a source of biologically-active trace elements, iron in particular, dust events are episodic and highly seasonal. There is, however, a constant source of aerosol that is chemically similar to dust (albeit amorphous in structure rather than crystalline) in the ash particles emitted from many hundreds of coal-fired power plants that are sited along the entire coastal region of China and Korea. The emission controls on these facilities vary widely and, in even cases of state-of-the-art emission controls, the secondary release of ash can be significant. There are of course even more small industrial and household sources of coal combustion emissions, in most cases with little or no emissions controls. Ash from a modern coal-fired power facility in Korea has been examined chemically and morphologically with electron microscopic techniques. As is characteristic of all such facilities, two principal types of ash are present: (1) flyash, silicate glass spheres that are emitted with the smoke and removed by electrostatic precipitators; and (2) bottom ash, "clinkers" and noncombustible material sticking to the furnace walls that are mixed with water and ground after cooling, then removed as a slurry to a dumping area. In addition, iron sulfide (pyrite) is a common constituent of coal and provides both a source of sulfur dioxide gas and also molten iron spherical particles in the ash. The iron spheres then are rapidly oxidized upon cooling. Bottom ash is a more complex material than flyash in that it contains more iron and other trace metals, plus it contains varying amounts of uncombusted carbon. The post-combustion handling of bottom ash can lead to significant emissions despite the fact that little or none goes out the stack. The iron oxide spheres can also be emitted by this secondary method. The concentrations of ash can be very high in close proximity to power plants (PM10 of several hundred

  6. Western Coal, Boom or Bust? Grades 9-11. Interdisciplinary Student/Teacher Materials in Energy, the Environment, and the Economy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Day, John; Weeden, Kenneth P.

    This unit uses energy choices to raise questions about the energy option of coal available to the nation along with attendant advantages and disadvantages of this option. The unit introduces locations of coal deposits in the U.S. and their types. Emphasis is on relatively unexploited deposits in the western United States. Comparisons are made…

  7. Kinetic study of coals gasification into carbon dioxide atmosphere

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Korotkikh A.G.

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available The solid fuel gasification process was investigated to define chemical reactions rate and activation energy for a gas-generator designing and regime optimizing. An experimental procedure includes coal char samples of Kuznetskiy and Kansko-Achinskiy deposits consequent argon pyrolysis into argon and oxidating into carbon dioxide with different temperatures. The thermogravimetric analysis data of coal char gasification into carbon dioxide was obtained in the temperature range 900–1200 ºC. The mass loss and gasification time dependencies from temperature were defined to calculate chemical reaction frequency factor and activation energy. Two coal char gasification physico-mathematical models were proposed and recommendations for them were formed.

  8. Revisiting platinum group elements of Late Permian coals from western Guizhou Province, SW China

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Qi, Liang [State Key Lab of Ore Deposit Geochemistry, Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang, 550002 (China); Gao, Jianfeng [Department of Earth Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong SAR (China)

    2008-08-05

    Twenty five coal samples from the Late Permian coal-bearing strata in Weining, Nayong, and Zhijin, western Guizhou Province, SW, China, were analyzed for platinum group elements (PGEs). The coal ashes were digested by the Carius tube technique and accurately measured by isotope dilution-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ID-ICP-MS) for all PGEs. The results are much lower than the previous reported values. Our study suggested that the previously reported PGE values are incorrect and may due to the polyatomic interferences in ICP-MS measurements. In our study, samples from the Weining coalfield have the lowest PGE contents (from 0.019 Ir to 0.42 ng/g Pd), which represent the PGE background value in coal in western Guizhou province. Some of the coals have Pt and Pd contents about 20-times higher than the background value, indicating PGEs are concentrated. We also reported new and reliable PGE data and background value of coal in western Guizhou province, SW, China, and suggested to rework the PGE background values of Chinese coals. (author)

  9. Allogenic sedimentary components of Bear Lake, Utah and Idaho

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rosenbaum, J.G.; Dean, W.E.; Reynolds, R.L.; Reheis, M.C.

    2009-01-01

    Bear Lake is a long-lived lake filling a tectonic depression between the Bear River Range to the west and the Bear River Plateau to the east, and straddling the border between Utah and Idaho. Mineralogy, elemental geochemistry, and magnetic properties provide information about variations in provenance of allogenic lithic material in last-glacial-age, quartz-rich sediment in Bear Lake. Grain-size data from the siliciclastic fraction of late-glacial to Holocene carbonate-rich sediments provide information about variations in lake level. For the quartz-rich lower unit, which was deposited while the Bear River fl owed into and out of the lake, four source areas are recognized on the basis of modern fluvial samples with contrasting properties that reflect differences in bedrock geology and in magnetite content from dust. One of these areas is underlain by hematite-rich Uinta Mountain Group rocks in the headwaters of the Bear River. Although Uinta Mountain Group rocks make up a small fraction of the catchment, hematite-rich material from this area is an important component of the lower unit. This material is interpreted to be glacial fl our. Variations in the input of glacial flour are interpreted as having caused quasi-cyclical variations in mineralogical and elemental concentrations, and in magnetic properties within the lower unit. The carbonate-rich younger unit was deposited under conditions similar to those of the modern lake, with the Bear River largely bypassing the lake. For two cores taken in more than 30 m of water, median grain sizes in this unit range from ???6 ??m to more than 30 ??m, with the coarsest grain sizes associated with beach or shallow-water deposits. Similar grain-size variations are observed as a function of water depth in the modern lake and provide the basis for interpreting the core grain-size data in terms of lake level. Copyright ?? 2009 The Geological Society of America.

  10. Operational and geotechnical constraints to coal mining in Alaska's interior

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Corser, P; Usibelli, M

    1989-01-01

    Surface mining of coal from the Poker Flats mining area to the north of Healy, Alaska began in 1978. Current operations involve a 25 m/sup 3/ walking dragline which strips two coal seams, using an extended bench on the second pass; a fleet of trucks and shovels are used for coal removal and some limited overburden stripping. Geotechnical constraints to mining within the steeply dipping coal deposits are discussed. The area had a number of landslides. During 1984, mining operations close to a landslide caused movement to resume. A mine plan was developed which allowed the coal to be safely removed without inducing additional movement. This involves a dipline mining scheme through the slide area. Future mine plans will acknowledge the hazards of mining through potentially unstable zones. Aerial photographs, field mapping and geological exploration were used. 1 ref., 6 figs.

  11. Palaeocology of coal-bearing Eocene sediments in central Anatolia (Turkey) based on quantitative palynological data

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Akkiraz, M.S.; Kayseri, M.S.; Akgun, F. [Dokuz Eylul University, Izmir (Turkey). Dept. of Geological Engineering

    2008-04-15

    In this study, the lignite-bearing Yoncali formation between Yozgat and Sorgun, in central Anatolia has been palynologically examined. Based on 37 outcrop samples, quantitative palynological studies recognized 64 genera and 136 palynoflora species in the palynological assemblage, which indicated a Middle-Late Eocene age. This paper also presents a quantitative palaeovegetation and palaeoclimate reconstruction for the Middle-Upper Eocene coal occurrences of Central Anatolia on the basis of palynomorph assemblages. The diversified floral and ecological characteristics of the pollen taxa indicates that the Middle-Upper Eocene formations in central Anatolia were characterized by the presence of a complex mangrove swamp with contributions by Nypa, Pelliciera, Avicennia, Diporites tszkaszentgydrgyi and dinoflagellate cysts which reflect warm climatic conditions. Lowland-riparian and montane elements are characterized by the dominance of Myricaceae, Symplocaceae, Icacinaceae, Quercus, Pinus and Castanea. Swamp-freshwater elements are represented by Sparganjaceae, Nymphaceae, Taxodjaceae, Cupressaceae and Nyssa as well as fern spores such as Osmundaceae and Gleicheniaceae. The calculations were performed with the help of the 'Coexistence Approach' method to climatically evaluate palynoflora from the Yozgat-Sorgun area. The obtained results have been compared to data derived from the application of the Coexistence Approach to other, already published Central Anatolian palynofloras of the same age. The results of the climatic inferences suggest that the palaeoclimatic conditions were in the megathermal zone, megatherm/mesotherm intermediate zone whereas mesothermic conditions prevailed in the montane region. Likewise, the results of mean annual range of temperatures indicate the influence of the Indian ocean, which enabled the development of the mangroves.

  12. Quantifying greenhouse gas emissions from coal fires using airborne and ground-based methods

    Science.gov (United States)

    Engle, Mark A.; Radke, Lawrence F.; Heffern, Edward L.; O'Keefe, Jennifer M.K.; Smeltzer, Charles; Hower, James C.; Hower, Judith M.; Prakash, Anupma; Kolker, Allan; Eatwell, Robert J.; ter Schure, Arnout; Queen, Gerald; Aggen, Kerry L.; Stracher, Glenn B.; Henke, Kevin R.; Olea, Ricardo A.; Román-Colón, Yomayara

    2011-01-01

    Coal fires occur in all coal-bearing regions of the world and number, conservatively, in the thousands. These fires emit a variety of compounds including greenhouse gases. However, the magnitude of the contribution of combustion gases from coal fires to the environment is highly uncertain, because adequate data and methods for assessing emissions are lacking. This study demonstrates the ability to estimate CO2 and CH4 emissions for the Welch Ranch coal fire, Powder River Basin, Wyoming, USA, using two independent methods: (a) heat flux calculated from aerial thermal infrared imaging (3.7–4.4 t d−1 of CO2 equivalent emissions) and (b) direct, ground-based measurements (7.3–9.5 t d−1 of CO2 equivalent emissions). Both approaches offer the potential for conducting inventories of coal fires to assess their gas emissions and to evaluate and prioritize fires for mitigation.

  13. 76 FR 55701 - Notice of Invitation to Participate; Exploration for Coal in Colorado License Application COC-74895

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-09-08

    ...] Notice of Invitation to Participate; Exploration for Coal in Colorado License Application COC-74895... Mineral Leasing Act of 1920, as amended by the Federal Coal Leasing Amendments Act of 1976, and to Bureau... coal deposits owned by the United States of America in lands located in Routt County, Colorado. DATES...

  14. Stable lead isotope compositions in selected coals from around the world and implications for present day aerosol source tracing

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    M. Diaz-Somoano; M.E. Kylander; M.A. Lopez-Anton; I. Suarez-Ruiz; M.R. Martinez-Tarazona; M. Ferrat; B. Kober; D.J. Weiss [Instituto Nacional del Carbon (INCAR-CSIC), Oviedo (Spain)

    2009-02-15

    The phasing out of leaded gasoline in many countries around the world at the end of the last millennium has resulted in a complex mixture of lead sources in the atmosphere. Recent studies suggest that coal combustion has become an important source of Pb in aerosols in urban and remote areas. Lead concentration and isotopic composition is reported for 59 coal samples representing major coal deposits worldwide in an attempt to characterize this potential source. The average concentration in these coals is 35 {mu}g Pb g{sup -1}, with the highest values in coals from Spain and Peru and the lowest in coals from Australia and North America. The {sup 206}Pb/{sup 207}Pb isotope ratios range between 1.15 and 1.24, with less radiogenic Pb in coals from Europe and Asia compared to South and North America. Comparing the Pb isotopic signatures of coals from this and previous studies with those published for Northern and Southern Hemisphere aerosols, we hypothesize that coal combustion might now be an important Pb source in China, the eastern U.S., and to some extent, in Europe but not as yet in other regions including South Africa, South America, and western U.S. This supports the notion that 'old Pb pollution' from leaded gasoline reemitted into the atmosphere or long-range transport (i.e., from China to the western U.S.) is important. Comparing the isotope ratios of the coals, the age of the deposits, and Pb isotope evolution models for the major geochemical reservoirs suggests that the lead isotope ratios (PbIC) in coals is strongly influenced by the depositional coal forming environment. 47 refs., 3 figs., 1 tab.

  15. Modeling the international competitiveness of Botswana's coal

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fichani, Khaulani

    Botswana has vast proven deposits of steam coal, which for a long time it has wanted to develop but without much success. The main objectives of this study are: (1) to analyze the time schedule of coal exports likely to be forthcoming from Botswana and the land routes for these exports; (2) to determine the competitiveness of Botswana's coal in the world steam coal markets and (3) to make recommendations on the appropriate policy for the exploitation of this coal. To accomplish these objectives, we construct a model of the seaborne steam coal trade consisting of exporters and importers with a substantial share in this trade. We econometrically estimate the long run marginal cost functions for net exporters and employ these to construct a spatial and dynamic model of the world steam coal trade with elastic supply and inelastic demand. This model is applied to simulate Botswana's competitiveness in this trade over the period 1995 to 2010 from a 1990 base year with a decision criterion that minimizes the sum of discounted capital costs of mine development, variable supply costs, rail and maritime transportation costs. Finally, we employ the model to forecast the likely optimal size of mine, timing of production capacity and choice of export port for Botswana's coal for the years 2005 and 2010. The base year for the forecast is 2000. The simulation results indicate that Botswana's coal would have been competitive in the steam coal markets of Western Europe and Asia. The forecast results indicate that Botswana's coal would also be competitive in these markets in the future. These results are least sensitive to changes in rail transportation and variable supply costs but are sensitive to capital costs for mine development.

  16. Palynostratigraphy, palynofacies and depositional environment of a lignite-bearing succession at Surkha Mine, Cambay Basin, north-western India

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Monga Priyanka

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available The paper reports palynology and palynofacies studies of lignite-bearing sediments exposed in an opencast mine succession at Surkha, Bhavnagar District, in the coastal region of Gujarat, India. The study examined the relationships between the palynoflora, sedimentary organic matter and environment at the time of deposition of lignite and associated sediments. Based on dinoflagellate cyst biostratigraphy, the sedimentary succession is dated as early Eocene (Ypresian. Palynofacies studies helped reveal the palaeoenvironmental fluctuations. The dominance of angiosperm pollen grains, freshwater algae, microthyraceous fungi and a large share of land debris in the lower part of the succession suggests a freshwater swamp environment of deposition for the basal lignite facies. Two cenozones - Matanomadiasulcites maximus and Lakiapollis ovatus - were identified in the lower lignite facies, determined from the dominance of these pollen grains in the palynological assemblages. The presence of angiosperm pollen grains and pteridophyte spores in the carbonaceous shale horizon above the lignite facies indicates a change in the depositional regime from freshwater swamp to lagoonal. This was identified as the Arecipites wodehousei cenozone due to its numerical abundance in the assemblage. Dinoflagellate cyst abundance and diversity, and microforaminiferal test linings along with well-sorted terrestrial debris in the mudstone in the upper part of the succession suggest a more open marine estuarine type of depositional environment. The Homotryblium complex along with Cordospheridium fibrospinosum, Kenleyia sp., and Thalassiphora pelagica dinoflagellate cysts are the main representatives of this zone, determined as the Homotryblium tenuispinosum cenozone. The changing depositional settings (freshwater swamp-lagoonal-estuarine along the vertical succession indicate a marine transgression in this region. Results from palynological studies of early Palaeogene

  17. Petrography and rank of the Bhangtar coals, southeastern Bhutan

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Pareek, H S [BH23, Meerut (India)

    1990-07-01

    In Bhutan, a potential coal deposit is exposed at Bhangtar in the 'landslide zone'. Nineteen coal seams are encountered in this area, and occur in the Lower Gondwana Supergroup preserved in between the Main Boundary Fault and the Thrust. The coal is low in moisture, {lt}1.76%, but the coal cores show moisture values of 3.16%. The ash content is up to 48.87% and increases substantially in the younger seams. The volatile content (on a pure coal basis) ranges from 23.38% to 41.02%. The sulphur content is less than 0.61%. The coals are non-coking. The amount of trace elements in the coal is quite low. The average petrographic composition of the Bhangtar coal is vitrinite - 31%, exinite - 2%, inertinite - 31%, and mineral and shaly matter - 36%, the vitrinite proportion decreases from the older to the younger seams, which are shaly. an age can be assigned to the Bhangtar coal. Based on oil reflectance, the rank of the coal is metalignitous to hypobituminous. The average microlithotype composition of the coal is vitrite - 30%, clarite - 1%, vitrinertite V - 14%, vitrinertite I - 11%, durite - 3%, fusite - 14%, and carbominerite - 27%. Vitrite decreases in proportion towards the younger seams, 'intermediates' show a concomitant increase, while durite and fusite remain constant. Carbonaceous shale contains fragmentary inertinite and vitrinite macerals and is interlayered with micro-bands of shaly coal which is characterised by abundant fragments of fusinite and vitrinite. The coal is very fragile and thus amenable to economic beneficiation. The coal is used as fuel in electric power plants. The Bhangtar coal is characteristically distinct from the Gondwana coals of India in petrography and rank, but correlates petrographically with the Kameng coals of Arunachal Pradesh, India. 18 refs., 4 figs., 8 tabs., 3 plates.

  18. Earliest history of coal mining and grindstone quarrying at Joggins, Nova Scotia, and its implications for the meaning of the place name Joggins

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Falcon-Lang, H.J.; London Univ., Egham

    2009-01-01

    The Joggins Section is a carboniferous succession located on the southeastern shore of the Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia. The explorer Charles Lyell wrote about the Section's coal-bearing strata and extraordinary fossil forests in 1843. This paper reviewed earlier studies and literature related to the region in order to discuss coal mining and grindstone quarrying in the region in the late 1600s. Mineral exploration of the region began soon after French settlers arrived in 1604, and the earliest record of coal-mining occurred in 1639. References to the Joggins Section occurred in the diary of Samuel Pepys. Detailed maps from 1686 depict coastal outcrop belts of coal-bearing strata. Other records describe illicit trade of coal between Joggins and New England. A travelogue in 1731 described the mines and their location. A state-sponsored British coal mine was proposed in 1730. However, the venture was abandoned after attacks by angry local residents. Later studies of the region described the coal as being of inferior quality. The General Mining Association of Britain became lessees of all the mines and minerals in the province of Nova Scotia in 1827. However, several bootleg operations continued to mine the coals. It was concluded that a thriving grindstone industry in the region filled gaps in the local economy caused by the periods of mine closures. 93 refs., 15 figs

  19. Earliest history of coal mining and grindstone quarrying at Joggins, Nova Scotia, and its implications for the meaning of the place name Joggins

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Falcon-Lang, H.J. [Bristol Univ., Bristol (United Kingdom). Dept. of Earth Sciences; London Univ., Egham (United Kingdom). Dept. of Earth Sciences

    2009-07-01

    The Joggins Section is a carboniferous succession located on the southeastern shore of the Bay of Fundy in Nova Scotia. The explorer Charles Lyell wrote about the Section's coal-bearing strata and extraordinary fossil forests in 1843. This paper reviewed earlier studies and literature related to the region in order to discuss coal mining and grindstone quarrying in the region in the late 1600s. Mineral exploration of the region began soon after French settlers arrived in 1604, and the earliest record of coal-mining occurred in 1639. References to the Joggins Section occurred in the diary of Samuel Pepys. Detailed maps from 1686 depict coastal outcrop belts of coal-bearing strata. Other records describe illicit trade of coal between Joggins and New England. A travelogue in 1731 described the mines and their location. A state-sponsored British coal mine was proposed in 1730. However, the venture was abandoned after attacks by angry local residents. Later studies of the region described the coal as being of inferior quality. The General Mining Association of Britain became lessees of all the mines and minerals in the province of Nova Scotia in 1827. However, several bootleg operations continued to mine the coals. It was concluded that a thriving grindstone industry in the region filled gaps in the local economy caused by the periods of mine closures. 93 refs., 15 figs.

  20. Uranium in minerals of gold-bearing formations of the North-Eastern part of the USSR

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zagruzina, I.A.; Pinsky, E.M.

    1979-01-01

    Uranium concentration in 2190 mineral grains from 23 gold-bearing veins of different age deposits in the North-Eastern part of the USSR have been determined using f-radiography. The deposits studied are referred to two formation types: gold-silver epithermal and gold-quartz mesothermal. Differences in physico-chemical conditions of deposite formation of the above formation types are emphasized by the differences in uranium concentration in the vein minerals: 1.0-1.4 g/tU in the first type and 0.4 g/tU in the second one. Uranium content in minerals of gold-bearing veins as compared to minerals of other deposits is characterized by the lowest concentrations. In all gold-bearing veins hydrooxides of iron and hydromica are the main concentrators of uranium. Hypergene stage plays dominating role in uranium accumulation

  1. Mechanism of near-fault ore deposition in stratal infiltration uranium deposits

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Belova, L.L.; Krichevets, G.N.; Shmariovich, E.M.; Salmin, Yu.P.; Tatarkin, M.A.

    1986-01-01

    The authors have examined the conditions for the formation of uranium ores associated with faults, which constitute a distinct type at various deposits associated with stratal zones of limonitization. Mathematical and experimental models were devised in which uranium-bearing oxidizing fluids and H 2 S-bearing reducing fluids interact in porous media. The algorithm used incorporated the hydrodynamics, the dispersal, and as far as possible also the thermodynamics and kinetics. This combined approach enabled them to examine not only the final result but also the intermediate stages, which are time- and space-dependent. The authors have found that the models reproduce zoning pattern found in natural uranium deposits. The paper describes the algorithm, discusses the results of mathematical modeling, and compares the results of mathematical and physical modeling. 16 references, 3 figures

  2. Mathematical modelling of water and gas transport in layered soil covers for coal ash deposit

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lindgren, M [Kemakta Consultants Co, Stockholm (SE); Rasmuson, A [Chalmers University of Technology, Goeteborg (SE). Dept. of Chemical Engineering Design

    1991-06-19

    In phase 1 of this study the design of soil covers for deposits of coal ash from energy production was studied with regard to various parameters like: climate, cover slope, hydraulic conductivity of tight layer and length of cover. One of the main results was the relatively large risk for total saturation up to the surface and overflow which may cause surface erosion problems. In the present study two theoretical cases are studied to further elucidate the problem. A case from the phase 1 study is used to illustrate the effect of increased infiltration. Calculations show that total saturation and thereby overflow is achieved when the infiltration is increased by 20% in March, but not when increased by 10% only. This shows that the margin in an acceptable case may be small. A cover treated in phase 1, where totally saturated conditions were obtained, was modified so that two decimeters of the one meter till in its bottom part were exchanged for a drainage layer. It is shown that the effect of this layer is large. A negative side-effect, however, is that gas flow may increase due to the lower saturation of the cover. Calculations were made for a real soil covered mine tailings deposit at Bersbo. This deposit was chosen mainly because it is the only well documented case in Sweden where soil covers are used for securing a deposit, but also because some contradictory results as compared to theory were obtained. Another topic studied in the present work was the influence of a heterogeneous clay layer. For example, a weak zone with a hydraulic conductivity of 10{sup -7} m/s (10{sup -9} m/s for the rest of the clay), covering 0.5 m x 0.5 m of 10 m in length and 5 m in width, will increase the flow through the bottom of the cover with almost 30%. The gas transport through the heterogeneous soil cover was also studied, showing about 5 times increased gas transport rate around the weak zone, but almost no difference about 1 m from the weak zone. (29 figs., 5 tabs., 27 refs.).

  3. Application of dry separative methods for decreasing content the residues unburned coal and separation Fe from black coal flies ash

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    František Kaľavský

    2008-06-01

    Full Text Available Main obstacle using of fly ashes in building, that is its main consumer, is the residue of unburned coal; it is expressed of loss onignition - LOI. In present, the valid STN and EU standard limits the content of LOI to 3 – 5 %, in national conditions maximum 7 %.Application of processing technologies also has to assure utilization of fly ash that provides a possibility of complex utilizationof individual products obtained by modification.By means of corona separation, based on different conductivity of individual fly ash elements, it is possible to separate unburnedcoal particles. The fly ash sample from black coal burning in melting boiler that was deposited on fly ash deposit, content of LOIof dielectric particle 6,45 % at 61 % weight yield was achieved. In the samples taken from dry taking of fly ash the non-conductingproduct contained 7,72 % of LOI at 73 % of weight yield.

  4. International Coal Report's coal year 1991

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    McCloskey, G [ed.

    1991-05-31

    Following introductory articles on factors affecting trade in coal and developments in the freight market, tables are given for coal exports and coal imports for major countries worldwide for 1989 and 1990. Figures are also included for coal consumption in Canada and the Eastern bloc,, power station consumption in Japan, coal supply and demand in the UK, electric utility coal consumption and stocks in the USA, coal production in Australia, Canada and USA by state, and world hard coal production. A final section gives electricity production and hard coal deliveries in the EEC, sales of imported and local coal and world production of pig iron and steel.

  5. Isotopes of carbon and oxygen in the carbonate impurities of coal have potential as palaeoenvironmental indicators

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Verhagen, B.T.; Falcon, R.M.

    1990-01-01

    The nature and systematics of impurities such as carbonates need to be established in order to understand their provenance in coal seams with reference to mining, beneficiation and ultimately their elimination or reduction. To this end, mineralogical and carbon-13 and oxygen-18 isotopic studies were undertaken on carbonate occurrences in coal from the eastern Transvaal highveld. Isotopic variations of considerable amplitude and individual values of extreme ''lightness'' are to be found in the carbonates in coal of the Witbank and adjacent basins. The observed isotopic ratios have a clear bearing on the nature and origins of the carbonates. 1 tab., 1 fig

  6. 20 CFR 410.585 - Conservation and investment of payments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ....585 Section 410.585 Employees' Benefits SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION FEDERAL COAL MINE HEALTH AND... of trust estates by trustees. For example, surplus funds may be deposited in an interest- or dividend... requirements. Surplus funds deposited in an interest- or dividend-bearing account in a bank or trust company...

  7. Some physio-graphical keys to interpret reservoirs-traps, hosts of uranium-bearing mineralizations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Parize, O.; Feybesse, J.L.; Wattinne-Morice, A.; Benedicto, A.; Richard, Y.; Sol, R.; Milesi, J.P.; Duchemin, Ch.; James, O.; Girard, Ch.

    2009-01-01

    As an approach in the search for silici-clastic formations which are reservoirs-traps hosting uranium-bearing mineralizations, the authors describe the use of facies sedimentology to describe successive deposits the arrangement of which determines the sequences according to which mineralisation will preferentially concentrate. They describe the use of sequential stratigraphy and how uranium had moved and deposited in successive eras and formations. They illustrate this approach by discussing different uranium-bearing deposits located in Niger and in France. They show how diagenesis, tectonics and sedimentology are combined to analyse these sites, and even to reassess them while exploiting them

  8. Hydrogen production from coal using a nuclear heat source

    Science.gov (United States)

    Quade, R. N.

    1976-01-01

    A strong candidate for hydrogen production in the intermediate time frame of 1985 to 1995 is a coal-based process using a high-temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR) as a heat source. Expected process efficiencies in the range of 60 to 70% are considerably higher than all other hydrogen production processes except steam reforming of a natural gas. The process involves the preparation of a coal liquid, hydrogasification of that liquid, and steam reforming of the resulting gaseous or light liquid product. A study showing process efficiency and cost of hydrogen vs nuclear reactor core outlet temperature has been completed, and shows diminishing returns at process temperatures above about 1500 F. A possible scenario combining the relatively abundant and low-cost Western coal deposits with the Gulf Coast hydrogen users is presented which provides high-energy density transportation utilizing coal liquids and uranium.

  9. Radioactive commitment due to use of coal in power plants

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fenger, J. and H. Flyger.

    1980-11-01

    A short review of the literature on release of radioactivity due to use of coal in power plants with the emphasis on the stack effluent and waste products. It is concluded that during normal operation coal fired power plants give a larger dose commitment than nuclear power plants, but both types have insignificant effects. The problem of waste management has never been studied in detail; ash deposit should probably be monitored. (Auth)

  10. Buy coal. Deposit markets prevent carbon leakage

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Harstad, Baard [Northwestern Univ., Evanston, IL (United States). Kellogg School of Management

    2010-03-15

    If a coalition of countries implements climate policies, nonparticipants tend to consume more, pollute more, and invest too little in renewable energy sources. In response, the coalition's equilibrium policy distorts trade and it is not time consistent. By adding a market for the right to exploit fossil fuel deposits, I show that these problems vanish and the first best is implemented. When the market for deposits clears, the coalition relies entirely on supply-side policies, which is simple to implement in practice. The result illustrates that efficiency can be obtained without Coasian negotiations ex post, if key inputs are tradable ex ante. (orig.)

  11. Depositional Record of the Bagua Basin, Northern Peru: Implications for Climate and Tectonic Evolution of Tropical South America

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moreno, F.; George, S. W. M.; Williams, L. A.; Horton, B. K.; Garzione, C. N.

    2015-12-01

    The Andes Mountains exert critical controls on the climate, hydrology, and biodiversity of South America. The Bagua Basin, a low elevation (400-600 m) intermontane basin in northern Peru, offers a unique opportunity to study the ecological, climatic, and structural evolution of the western topographic boundary of the Amazonian foreland. Situated between the Marañon fold-thrust belt of the Western Cordillera and basement block uplifts of the Eastern Cordillera, the Bagua region contains a protracted, semi-continuous record of Triassic through Pleistocene sedimentation. Whereas Triassic-Cretaceous marine deposits were potentially related to extension and regional thermal subsidence, a Paleocene-Eocene shift to shallow marine and fluvial systems marks the onset of foreland basin conditions. Oligocene-Miocene sedimentation corresponds to a braided-meandering fluvial system with exceptional development of paleosols. In this study, we use new detrital zircon U-Pb geochronologic and oxygen stable isotopic datasets to establish a chronology of pre-Andean and Andean processes within the Bagua Basin. Detrital zircon geochronology provides constraints on when the Western and Eastern cordilleras shed sediments into the basin. Syndepositional zircons within Eocene, Oligocene and Miocene strata provide key age control for a previously poorly constrained depositional chronology. Preliminary results suggest a dramatic provenance shift in which Paleocene deposits contain almost exclusively cratonic populations (500-1600 Ma) whereas Eocene deposits show a mix of syndepositional zircons from the magmatic arc, recycled Mesozoic zircons, and cratonic zircon populations. Oxygen stable isotopes (δ18O) of carbonate nodules from Neogene paleosols will help elucidate when the Eastern Cordillera became an orographic barrier intercepting moisture from the Amazon basin to the east. Together, these records will help uncover the history of tectonics and climate interaction in tropical South

  12. A new fossil from the mid-Paleocene of New Zealand reveals an unexpected diversity of world's oldest penguins

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mayr, Gerald; De Pietri, Vanesa L.; Paul Scofield, R.

    2017-04-01

    We describe leg bones of a giant penguin from the mid-Paleocene Waipara Greensand of New Zealand. The specimens were found at the type locality of Waimanu manneringi and together with this species they constitute the oldest penguin fossils known to date. Tarsometatarsus dimensions indicate a species that reached the size of Anthropornis nordenskjoeldi, one of the largest known penguin species. Stem group penguins therefore attained a giant size very early in their evolution, with this gigantism existing for more than 30 million years. The new fossils are from a species that is phylogenetically more derived than Waimanu, and the unexpected coexistence of Waimanu with more derived stem group Sphenisciformes documents a previously unknown diversity amongst the world's oldest penguins. The characteristic tarsometatarsus shape of penguins evolved early on, and the significant morphological disparity between Waimanu and the new fossil conflicts with recent Paleocene divergence estimates for penguins, suggesting an older, Late Cretaceous, origin.

  13. A new fossil from the mid-Paleocene of New Zealand reveals an unexpected diversity of world's oldest penguins.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mayr, Gerald; De Pietri, Vanesa L; Paul Scofield, R

    2017-04-01

    We describe leg bones of a giant penguin from the mid-Paleocene Waipara Greensand of New Zealand. The specimens were found at the type locality of Waimanu manneringi and together with this species they constitute the oldest penguin fossils known to date. Tarsometatarsus dimensions indicate a species that reached the size of Anthropornis nordenskjoeldi, one of the largest known penguin species. Stem group penguins therefore attained a giant size very early in their evolution, with this gigantism existing for more than 30 million years. The new fossils are from a species that is phylogenetically more derived than Waimanu, and the unexpected coexistence of Waimanu with more derived stem group Sphenisciformes documents a previously unknown diversity amongst the world's oldest penguins. The characteristic tarsometatarsus shape of penguins evolved early on, and the significant morphological disparity between Waimanu and the new fossil conflicts with recent Paleocene divergence estimates for penguins, suggesting an older, Late Cretaceous, origin.

  14. Peronosporomycetes (Oomycota from a Middle Permian permineralised peat within the Bainmedart Coal Measures, Prince Charles Mountains, Antarctica.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ben J Slater

    Full Text Available The fossil record of Peronosporomycetes (water moulds is rather sparse, though their distinctive ornamentation means they are probably better reported than some true fungal groups. Here we describe a rare Palaeozoic occurrence of this group from a Guadalupian (Middle Permian silicified peat deposit in the Bainmedart Coal Measures, Prince Charles Mountains, Antarctica. Specimens are numerous and comprise two morphologically distinct kinds of ornamented oogonia, of which some are attached to hyphae by a septum. Combresomyces caespitosus sp. nov. consists of spherical oogonia bearing densely spaced, long, hollow, slender, conical papillae with multiple sharply pointed, strongly divergent, apical branches that commonly form a pseudoreticulate pattern under optical microscopy. The oogonia are attached to a parental hypha by a short truncated stalk with a single septum. Combresomyces rarus sp. nov. consists of spherical oogonia bearing widely spaced, hollow, broad, conical papillae that terminate in a single bifurcation producing a pair of acutely divergent sharply pointed branches. The oogonium bears a short truncate extension where it attaches to the parental hypha. We propose that similarities in oogonium shape, size, spine morphology and hyphal attachment between the Permian forms from the Prince Charles Mountains and other reported Peronosporomycetes from Devonian to Triassic strata at widely separated localities elsewhere in the world delimit an extinct but once cosmopolitan Palaeozoic to early Mesozoic branch of the peronosporomycete clade. We name this order Combresomycetales and note that it played an important role in late Palaeozoic and early Mesozoic peatland ecosystems worldwide.

  15. A Study of Coal Fire Propagation with Remotely Sensed Thermal Infrared Data

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hongyuan Huo

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available Coal fires are a common and serious problem in most coal-bearing countries. Thus, it is very important to monitor changes in coal fires. Remote sensing provides a useful technique for investigating coal fields at a large scale and for detecting coal fires. In this study, the spreading direction of a coal fire in the Wuda Coal Field (WCF, northwest China, was analyzed using multi-temporal Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM and Enhanced Thematic Mapper (ETM+ thermal infrared (TIR data. Using an automated method and based on the land surface temperatures (LST that were retrieved from these thermal data, coal fires related to thermal anomalies were identified; the locations of these fires were validated using a coal fire map (CFM that was developed via field surveys; and the cross-validation of the results was also carried out using the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER thermal infrared images. Based on the results from longtime series of satellite TIR data set, the spreading directions of the coal fires were determined and the coal fire development on the scale of the entire coal field was predicted. The study delineated the spreading direction using the results of the coal fire dynamics analysis, and a coal fire spreading direction map was generated. The results showed that the coal fires primarily spread north or northeast in the central part of the WCF and south or southwest in the southern part of the WCF. In the northern part of the WCF, some coal fires were spreading north, perhaps coinciding with the orientation of the coal belt. Certain coal fires scattered in the northern and southern parts of the WCF were extending in bilateral directions. A quantitative analysis of the coal fires was also performed; the results indicate that the area of the coal fires increased an average of approximately 0.101 km2 per year.

  16. Chemical evolution of Miocene wood: Example from the Belchatow brown coal deposit, central Poland

    Science.gov (United States)

    Drobniak, A.; Mastalerz, Maria

    2006-01-01

    Miocene conifer wood samples from the Belchatow brown coal deposit in Poland were studied in order to discuss a range of chemical variations that occur as a result of biochemical coalification. Petrographic analysis, ultimate analysis, electron microprobe technique, and FTIR spectroscopy were used in this study. Our data show several progressive trends in functional groups distribution that take place during the wood transformation from group 1 to group 4, such as an overall increase in aromaticity, an increase in lignin/cellulose ratio, and an increase in oxygen functionalities. Other observations include an increase in aliphatic stretching and bending functionalities from groups 1 to 3; followed by a decrease in the wood of group 4; appearance of aliphatic out-of-plane bands in group 3 and increase in group 4; an increase in CH2/CH3 in group 4 compared to the other groups; and decrease in O-H groups in group 4 compared to other groups. These observations, together with other chemical and petrological observations, indicate that the progressive elimination of cellulose and modification of lignin are dominant processes of the wood transformation. ?? 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  17. Processing of uranium-containing coal

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cordero Alvarez, M.

    1987-01-01

    A direct storage of uranium-bearing coal requires the processing of large amounts of raw materials while lacking guarantee of troublefree process cycles. With the example of an uranium-bearing bituminous coal from Stockheim, it was aimed at the production of an uranium ore concentrate by means of mechanical, thermal and chemical investigations. Above all, amorphous pitch blende was detected as a uranium mineralization which occurs homogeneously distributed in the grain size classes of the comminuted raw material with particle diameters of a few μm and, after the combustion, enriches in the field of finest grain of the axis. Heterogeneous and solid-state reactions in the thermal decarburization above 700deg C result in the development of hardly soluble uranium oxides and and calcium uranates as well as in enclosures in mineral glass. Thus, the pre-enrichment has to take place in a temperature range below 600deg C. By means of a sorting classification of the ash at ± 2.0 mm, it is possible to achieve an enrichment of up to factor 15 for a mineral of a mainly low carbonate content and, for a mineral of a rich carbonate content, up to the factor 4. The separation of the uranium from the concentrates produced is possible with a yield of 95% by means of leaching with sulphuric acid at a temperature of 20deg C. As far as their reproducibility was concerned, the laboratory tests were verified on a semi-industrial scale. A processing method is suggested on the basis of the data obtained. (orig.) [de

  18. Heavy mineral delineation of the Cretaceous, Paleocene, and Eocene stratigraphic sections at the Savannah River Site, Upper Coastal Plain of South Carolina

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cathcart, E.M.; Sargent, K.A.

    1994-01-01

    The Upper Atlantic Coastal Plain of South Carolina consists of a fluvial-deltaic and shallow marine complex of unconsolidated sediments overlying the crystalline basement rocks of the North American continent. Because of the lateral and vertical variability of these sediments, stratigraphic boundaries have been difficult to distinguish. Portions of the Cretaceous, Paleocene, and eocene stratigraphic sections from cores recovered during the construction of two monitoring wells at the Savannah River Site were studied to determine if heavy mineral suites could be utilized to distinguish boundaries. The stratigraphic sections include: the Late Cretaceous Middendorf, Black Creek, and Steel Creek Formations, the Paleocene Snapp Formation, the late Paleocene-Early Eocene Fourmile Branch Formation, and the Early Eocene Congaree formation. In previous studies composite samples were taken over 2.5 ft. intervals along the cores and processed using a heavy liquid for heavy mineral recovery. During this study, heavy mineral distributions were determined by binocular microscope and the mineral identifications confirmed by x-ray diffraction analysis of hand-picked samples. The heavy mineral concentration data and grain size data were then compared to the stratigraphic boundary positions determined by other workers using more classical methods. These comparisons were used to establish the utility of this method for delineating the stratigraphic boundaries in the area of study

  19. Characterisation of lignite lithotypes from the “Kovin” deposit (Serbia - implications from petrographic, biomarker and isotopic analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mitrović Danica

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Four lignite lithotypes (matrix coal, xylite-rich coal, mixture of matrix and mineral-rich coal and mixture of matrix and xylite-rich coal, originating from the Kovin deposit, were investigated in detail. The paper was aimed to determine the main maceral, biomarker and isotopic (δ13C characteristics of investigated lithotypes. Based on these results the sources and depositional environment of organic matter in 4 lithotypes were established. These samples were also used as substrates for investigation of the influence of diagenetic alteration on δ13C signatures of biomarkers, as well as for assessment of the most convenient utilization for each lithotype. The investigated lithotypes differ in accordance with the composition of huminite macerals. Xylite-rich coal notably distinguishes from other lithotypes beacuse of the highest content of conifer resins vs. epicuticular waxes. The mixture of matrix and mineral-rich coal is characterised by the greatest contribution of algae and fungi and the most intense methanotrophic activity at the time of deposition. In all coal lithotypes diagenetic aromatisation influenced isotopic composition of individual biomarkers. Xylite-rich coal has the poorest grindability properties. However, this coal lithotype is the most suitable for fluidized bed gasification, whereas the mixture of matrix and mineral-rich coal has the lowest applicability for this process. The calorific value decreases in order: xylite-rich coal > matrix coal > mixture of matrix and xylite-rich coal > mixture of matrix and mineral-rich coal. The increase of organic carbon content and calorific value is controlled by the increase of contribution of wood vegetation vs. herbaceous peat-forming plants, as well as by stability of water table during peatification. [Project of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia, Grant no. 176006 and Grant no. 451-03-01039/2015-09/05

  20. Mathematical methods in geometrization of coal field

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shurygin, D. N.; Kalinchenko, V. M.; Tkachev, V. A.; Tretyak, A. Ya

    2017-10-01

    In the work, the approach to increase overall performance of collieries on the basis of an increase in accuracy of geometrization of coal thicknesses is considered. The sequence of stages of mathematical modelling of spatial placing of indicators of a deposit taking into account allocation of homogeneous sites of thickness and an establishment of quantitative interrelations between mountain-geological indicators of coal layers is offered. As a uniform mathematical method for modelling of various interrelations, it is offered to use a method of the group accounting of arguments (MGUA), one of versions of the regressive analysis. This approach can find application during delimitation between geological homogeneous sites of coal thicknesses in the form of a linear discriminant function. By an example of division into districts of a mine field in the conditions of mine “Sadkinsky” (East Donbass), the use of the complex approach for forecasting of zones of the small amplitude of disturbance of a coal layer on the basis of the discriminant analysis and MGUA is shown.

  1. Evolution of sedimentary architecture in retro-foreland basin: Aquitaine basin example from Paleocene to lower Eocene.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ortega, Carole; Lasseur, Eric; Guillocheau, François; Serrano, Olivier; Malet, David

    2017-04-01

    The Aquitaine basin located in south western Europe, is a Pyrenean retro-foreland basin. Two main phases of compression are recorded in this retro-foreland basin during the Pyrenean orogeny. A first upper Cretaceous phase corresponding to the early stage of the orogeny, and a second one usually related to a Pyrenean paroxysmal phase during the middle Eocene. During Paleocene to lower Eocene deformations are less pronounced, interpreted as a tectonically quiet period. The aim of the study is to better constrain the sedimentary system of the Aquitaine basin during this period of Paleocene-lower Eocene, in order to discuss the evolution of the sedimentary architecture in response of the Pyrenean compression. This work is based on a compilation of a large set of subsurface data (wells logs, seismic lines and cores logs) represented by isopachs and facies map. Three main cycles were identified during this structural quiet period: (1) The Danian cycle, is recorded by the aggradation of carbonate reef-rimmed platform. This platform is characterized by proximal facies (oncoid carbonate and mudstone with thalassinoides) to the north, which leads to distal deposit facies southern (pelagic carbonate with globigerina and slump facies) and present a significant thickness variation linked to the platform-slope-basin morphology. (2) The upper Selandian-Thanetian cycle follows a non-depositional/erosional surface associated with a Selandian hiatus. The base of this cycle marked the transition between the last reef rimmed platform and a carbonate ramp. The transgressive cycle is characterized by proximal lagoon facies to the north that leads southward to distal hemipelagic facies interfingered by turbiditic Lowstand System Tracks (LST). The location of these LST is strongly controlled by inherited Danian topography. The regressive cycle ends with a major regression associated with an erosional surface. This surface is linked with a network of canyons in the north, an important

  2. 75 FR 81165 - Examinations of Work Areas in Underground Coal Mines for Violations of Mandatory Health or Safety...

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-12-27

    ..., face or ribs and coal or rock bursts. Sec. 75.220(a)(1). Each mine operator shall develop and follow a... materials, ventilation and roof control plans, and maintenance of incombustible content of rock dust are the... the mine * * *. Sec. 75.400. Coal dust, including float coal dust deposited on rock-dusted surfaces...

  3. Depositional Environments of Late Danian Plant Localities: Chubut Provice, Patagonia, Argentina

    Science.gov (United States)

    Comer, E.; Slingerland, R. L.; Wilf, P.

    2010-12-01

    Diverse, well-preserved macroflora are observed within Cretaceous and Paleocene sediments of Chubut Province, Patagonia, Argentina. These macroflora are the most well preserved early Paleocene flora from Gondwana and add new insight into the diversity and environments of that epoch. Two major sites of fossil preservation, Palacio de los Loros and Parque Provincial Ormachea, sit near the top of the Late Danian (65.5-61.7 Ma) Salamanca Formation. Understanding the depositional history of the Salamanca is important in characterizing paleoenvironments in which these flora lived and relating these Patagonian macroflora to concurrent Paleocene flora within the Gondwanan supercontinent. During a two week field season, twenty stratigraphic sections were measured along the outcrop belt at Palacio de los Loros and Ormachea Park as well as two minor sites; Las Flores, and Rancho Grande. Photo mosaics, laser ranger data, and stratigraphic columns were merged with elevated geologic maps and imported into Fledermaus to generate a 3-D visualization of facies relationships. Rock samples were also collected and will be thin sectioned and analyzed for petrography and grain size. The Salamanca Fm. consists of 7 facies, listed here in stratigraphically ascending order: 1)Transgressive sands, 2)Wispy-bedded claystone, 3)Banco Verde, 4)White Cross bedded sandstone, 5)Accretion set siltstone, 6)Transitional silty claystone and 7)Banco Negro. Based on these facies, the Salamanca Fm. is interpreted as a marine-shelf to brackish, tide-dominated, estuarine deposit. The base of the Salamanca Fm. rests on an unconformity representing a marine flooding surface and lower sections of the Salamanca, facies 1 and 2, contain abundant glauconite and fossils indicative of a marine shelf environment. These facies give way upwards to bi-directional trough cross bedded sandstones interspersed with flaser bedded sandy siltstones (facies 3 and 4) indicating a less marine estuary with strong flow regimes

  4. Modular High Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactor heat source for coal conversion

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schleicher, R.W. Jr.; Lewis, A.C.

    1992-09-01

    In the industrial nations, transportable fuels in the form of natural gas and petroleum derivatives constitute a primary energy source nearly equivalent to that consumed for generating electric power. Nations with large coal deposits have the option of coal conversion to meet their transportable fuel demands. But these processes themselves consume huge amounts of energy and produce undesirable combustion by-products. Therefore, this represents a major opportunity to apply nuclear energy for both the environmental and energy conservation reasons. Because the most desirable coal conversion processes take place at 800 degree C or higher, only the High Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactors (HTGRs) have the potential to be adapted to coal conversion processes. This report provides a discussion of this utilization of HTGR reactors

  5. Replacing coal by tire powder in ceramic industry

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mothe, C.G. [Dept. de Processos Organicos, Escola de Quimica/CT/UFRJ, Rio de Janeiro, RJ (Brazil); Mothe Filho, H.F. [Dept. de Geociencias, Inst. de Agronomia/UFRRJ, Seropedica, RJ (Brazil)

    2005-07-01

    Nowadays preserving nature, recycling or reusing materials are good policies. Around ten million tires are put out by year in Brazil, and it is not known for how long they will remain in environment till their complete degradation. This research used tires to replace coal in ceramic processing. In this way it helps to protect environment, to reduce the consumption of mineral deposits and to save money. Results show that tire powder can replace coal to obtain ceramic material, using one percent of tire. Experiments were carried out using TA instruments SDT 2960, in air or nitrogen atmospheres, at heating rate of 10 C/min., flow 120 ml/min. TG/DTA curves of tire and coal have exothermic events at close temperatures between 450-600 C. At range of temperatures clay have endothermic events. (orig.)

  6. The causes and consequences of blown-up coal dust

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Vrins, E.L.M.; Van Zuylen, E.J.

    1991-11-01

    The goal of the Dutch National Research Program Coal (NOK), which started in 1983, is to eliminate technical, economic and ecological objections, connected with the large-scale use of coal. The Blown-up Coal Dust program, which is completed in 1991, aimed at problems that arise, due to the dispersion of coal dust in the vicinity of coal storage and transshipment areas. The accumulated knowledge is categorized according to the route the dust itself follows, starting with activities that cause the dust and continuing up to the effects, of which nuisance in the neighborhood is the most important. The successive chapters are: Activities, Emission, Concentration, Deposition, Pollution and Nuisance and other effects. Inventories of available knowledge, models and measuring equipment have been carried out for each part. The models describe the connection between the various stages of the progress of the dust, from cause to consequence. Newly developed measuring equipment was tested in practice. Various analysis techniques were used and evaluated, such as gravimetric, chemical and optical analysis. A specific coal dust analysis technique is not available. 15 figs., 23 tabs., 1 appendix, 263 refs

  7. Basinal analysis of the Ecca and Lowermost Beaufort Beds and associated coal, uranium and heavy mineral beach sand occurrences

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ryan, P.J.; Whitfield, G.G.

    1979-01-01

    The regional sediment transport directions, major provenance areas and the controlling palaeotectonic and palaeogeographic frameworks of sedimentation have been reconstructed for the Great Karoo Basin during the Permian. Analyses of this magnitude can be useful in regional exploration programmes for coal, uranium and fossil heavy mineral beach sand deposits. The strong palaeogeographic control on coal deposition is demonstrated by the fact that some of the most important deposits accumulated in topographically low lying areas on the pre-Karoo surface. Such areas formed sheltered environments ideal for the growth and accumulation of organic material. Elsewhere relatively slow rates of subsidence of a broad, protected, low lying delta plain controlled the deposition of coal. North of the main Karoo Basin many of the coal deposits are confined to structurally controlled linear basins. Hundreds of sedimentary uranium occurrences of varying grade and size occur within a broad, discontinuous belt in the Lower Beaufort of the southwestern portion of the Karoo Basin. The uranium mineralization occurs in a variety of fluvial deposits usually rich in carbonaceous material. Minute tuffaceous fragments, reflecting contemporaneous vulcanism, form a minor but significant constituent in some of the uraniferous sandstones. The uranium occurrences are confined largely to the Southern and Western Facies of the Lower Beaufort, and occur mainly within the confines of the Karoo Trough. Consolidated heavy mineral beach deposits have been found in the predominantly fluvio-deltaic Middle Ecca Group of the Northern Facies at a number of widely separated locations. These deposits were formed by shore line processes, such as the reworking of delta-front sands, during periods of temporary marine regression

  8. Geochemistry of Selected Coal Samples from Sumatra, Kalimantan, Sulawesi, and Papua, Indonesia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Belkin, Harvey E.; Tewalt, Susan J.

    2007-01-01

    Introduction Indonesia is an archipelago of more than 17,000 islands that stretches astride the equator for about 5,200 km in southeast Asia (figure 1) and includes major Cenozoic volcano-plutonic arcs, active volcanoes, and various related onshore and offshore basins. These magmatic arcs have extensive Cu and Au mineralization that has generated much exploration and mining in the last 50 years. Although Au and Ag have been mined in Indonesia for over 1000 years (van Leeuwen, 1994), it was not until the middle of the nineteenth century that the Dutch explored and developed major Sn and minor Au, Ag, Ni, bauxite, and coal resources. The metallogeny of Indonesia includes Au-rich porphyry Cu, porphyry Mo, skarn Cu-Au, sedimentary-rock hosted Au, epithermal Au, laterite Ni, and diamond deposits. For example, the Grasberg deposit in Papua has the world's largest gold reserves and the third-largest copper reserves (Sillitoe, 1994). Coal mining in Indonesia also has had a long history beginning with the initial production in 1849 in the Mahakam coal field near Pengaron, East Kalimantan; in 1891 in the Ombilin area, Sumatra, (van Leeuwen, 1994); and in South Sumatra in 1919 at the Bukit Asam mine (Soehandojo, 1989). Total production from deposits in Sumatra and Kalimantan, from the 19thth century to World War II, amounted to 40 million metric tons (Mt). After World War II, production declined due to various factors including politics and a boom in the world-wide oil economy. Active exploration and increased mining began again in the 1980's mainly through a change in Indonesian government policy of collaboration with foreign companies and the global oil crises (Prijono, 1989). This recent coal revival (van Leeuwen, 1994) has lead Indonesia to become the largest exporter of thermal (steam) coal and the second largest combined thermal and metallurgical (coking) coal exporter in the world market (Fairhead and others, 2006). The exported coal is desirable as it is low sulfur

  9. The Mine Working's Roof Stress-strain State Research in the Perspective of Development of New Coal Deposits of Kuzbass

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kostyuk, Svetlana; Bedarev, Nikolay; Lyubimov, Oleg; Shaikhislamov, Arthur

    2017-11-01

    The present now normative and information base is regulating of the Kuzbass coal seams treatment but is not considering of the mining-geological and mining-engineering conditions for new coal deposits. The analysis of works for the research of the rock pressure manifestation shows that in many cases numerous results require of the practical confirmation in mine conditions directly, and also confirmation by the physical models. This work reflects one of the stages of research on changing the stress-strain state of the massif with the formation of unloading zones, increased rock pressure, and recovery. As an example, the results of the information analysis obtained by means of contour and depth benchmarks on the ventilation drift in the course of the 34 seam treatment at the "Tagaryshskaya" mine are presented. The differences of the analyzed results from the results obtained in the conditions of other mines are established. The values of the drift's roof stratification on the contour and at the distance from the contour of 1.0 to 4.0 m are given. The revealed maximums of the rock pressure and pressure changes in the hydraulic supports of the complex used for movement are presented. Recommendations on the choice of the anchor's length taking into account the roof stratification size are given. The further research stages on models from equivalent materials at various geometric scales are proposed.

  10. Nanometre-sized pores in coal: Variations between coal basins and coal origin

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sakurovs, Richard; Koval, Lukas; Grigore, Mihaela; Sokolava, Anna; Ruppert, Leslie F.; Melnichenko, Yuri B.

    2018-01-01

    We have used small angle neutron scattering (SANS) to investigate the differences in methane and hexane penetration in pores in bituminous coal samples from the U.S., Canada, South Africa, and China, and maceral concentrates from Australian coals. This work is an extension of previous work that showed consistent differences between the extent of penetration by methane into 10–20 nm size pores in inertinite in bituminous coals from Australia, North America and Poland.In this study we have confirmed that there are differences in the response of inertinite to methane and hexane penetration in coals sourced from different coal basins. Inertinite in Permian Australian coals generally has relatively high numbers of pores in the 2.5–250 nm size range and the pores are highly penetrable by methane and hexane; coals sourced from Western Canada had similar penetrability to these Australian coals. However, the penetrability of methane and hexane into inertinite from the Australian Illawarra Coal Measures (also Permian) is substantially less than that of the other Australian coals; there are about 80% fewer 12 nm pores in Illawarra inertinite compared to the other Australian coals examined. The inertinite in coals sourced from South Africa and China had accessibility intermediate between the Illawarra coals and the other Australian coals.The extent of hexane penetration was 10–20% less than CD4 penetration into the same coal and this difference was most pronounced in the 5–50 nm pore size range. Hexane and methane penetrability into the coals showed similar trends with inertinite content.The observed variations in inertinite porosity between coals from different coal regions and coal basins may explain why previous studies differ in their observations of the relationships between gas sorption behavior, permeability, porosity, and maceral composition. These variations are not simply a demarcation between Northern and Southern Hemisphere coals.

  11. Distribution of arsenic in Permian coals of North Karanpura coalfield, Jharkhand

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Priyadarshi, N. [Ranchi University, Ranchi (India). Dept. of Geology

    2004-05-01

    The North Karanpura coalfield, a western most member in the east-west chain of the Damodar Valley Basin, forms a large expanse of coal bearing sediments spread over Hazaribagh, Ranchi and Palamau districts of Jharkhand State. It covers a total area of around 1230 sq. km. For the arsenic study, samples of coal from Badam, Kerendari, KDH, Rohini, Dakra and Karkatta were analysed. Molybdenum-blue colorimetry was used as the chemical technique for arsenic determination as recommended by the International Standard Organisation. Concentration of arsenic in coal samples range from {lt} 0.01 to 0.49 ppm with an arithmetic mean of 0.15 ppm. Concentration of arsenic is very low compared to most world coals. Average ash% is very high (up to 32.51%). In natural water arsenic varies from {lt} 0.001 ppm to 0.002 ppm and it is far below the drinking water specification (0.05 ppm). In sediments, it varies from 0.2 ppm to 2.0 ppm. In the study area arsenic is mainly confined to the surface water and sediments nearer to the mining area.

  12. Mineralogical, Microstructural and Thermal Characterization of Coal Fly Ash Produced from Kazakhstani Power Plants

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tauanov, Z.; Abylgazina, L.; Spitas, C.; Itskos, G.; Inglezakis, V.

    2017-09-01

    Coal fly ash (CFA) is a waste by-product of coal combustion. Kazakhstan has vast coal deposits and is major consumer of coal and hence produces huge amounts of CFA annually. The government aims to recycle and effectively utilize this waste by-product. Thus, a detailed study of the physical and chemical properties of material is required as the data available in literature is either outdated or not applicable for recently produced CFA samples. The full mineralogical, microstructural and thermal characterization of three types of coal fly ash (CFA) produced in two large Kazakhstani power plants is reported in this work. The properties of CFAs were compared between samples as well as with published values.

  13. A Paleocene penguin from New Zealand substantiates multiple origins of gigantism in fossil Sphenisciformes

    OpenAIRE

    Mayr, Gerald; Scofield, R. Paul; De Pietri, Vanesa L.; Tennyson, Alan J. D.

    2017-01-01

    One of the notable features of penguin evolution is the occurrence of very large species in the early Cenozoic, whose body size greatly exceeded that of the largest extant penguins. Here we describe a new giant species from the late Paleocene of New Zealand that documents the very early evolution of large body size in penguins. Kumimanu biceae, n. gen. et sp. is larger than all other fossil penguins that have substantial skeletal portions preserved. Several plesiomorphic features place the ne...

  14. The uranium ore deposits in Ciudad Rodrigo Phyllites. about the possibility of new deposits

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mingarro Martin, E.; Marin Benavente, C.

    1969-01-01

    The main features of the genesis of uranium deposits of the Fe mine type, are discussed in this paper. Pitchblende ore is related with phyllites bearing organic material and with geomorphological level, fossilized by eocene sediments. As a result, new uranium ore deposits are possible under Ciudad Rodrigo tertiary basin, tertiary cover depth being little more than three hundred feet. (Author)

  15. Protection against deposits and corrosion in water systems

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lehmkuhl, J

    1978-11-01

    Industry generally, including mining and coal preparation, are in the habit of using large amounts of untreated service water. The service water can be softened or treated with hardness stabilisers in order to prevent deposit formation and corrosion. As often as not, deposits of dirt and attack by microorganisma also have to be eliminated. The article puts forward some suggestions for practical assistance in protecting water systems against the dangers of deposits and corrosion.

  16. Exploration of the Karvinskiy formation covering in Beskidakh

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Strakoa, Z

    1980-01-01

    The Karvinskiy formation of coal-bearing carbon in the Upper Silesian basin was established by drilling wells in 1965 under the tectonic covers in Beskidakh. It forms a large eroded residual rock of 600 km/sup 2/ with industrial layers of rock coal. Work over the last few years has established the area over which the strata in the south are distributed, the position of the base, the new oil phenomena, the tectonic data of the southern region of the Upper Silesian basin. The rock coal fields were explored to define the borders of the mine fields of West Frenshtadt and East Frenshtadt. Eighteen coal layers were identified in the Karvinskiy formation. These belonged to 7 layer groups in the stratigraphy of the continental formations of Upper Silesian carbon, numbered 40 to 33. In the same mine fields, continental coal-bearing deposits of timber strata covering the Karvinskiy depression were discovered.

  17. Sedimentation of the Enan suite of the lower to middle Jurassic and coal reserves of the southeastern margin of the Ordos basin (China)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zhang, Y

    1983-01-01

    The studied coal bearing series has a parallel origin. The following facial complexes are isolated in its composition: lakes free of vegetation without coal interlayers; overgrown lakes of their margins which are poor in coals; swampy lakes, whose peat beds formed coal layers of shallow or moderate depth; channel sediments without coal layers and swamps from between channel spaces which created thick coal strata of high quality for which, however, a strong changeability in thickness is intrinsic. The coal strata are normally split towards the central parts of the lake basins and river channels. The coal presence of the suite is reduced along the section which is associated with the replacement of the lake swamp conditions of sedimentation by lake river conditions. A paleotectonic analysis established that the distribution of the zones richest in coal was controlled by consedimentational structural elements.

  18. Coal ball formation and a soil extinction near the P-Tr boundary

    Science.gov (United States)

    Breecker, D.; Royer, D. L.

    2017-12-01

    Coal balls are calcium carbonate accumulations that commonly permineralize paleotropical PermoCarboniferous coal deposits and preserve exceptional specimens of the coal swamp flora. A widely applicable model for the origin of coal balls is lacking despite the study of these deposits for over a century. Two characteristics of coal balls have been particularly challenging to explain: 1) their temporal range is restricted to the PermoCarboniferous and 2) their typical oxygen isotope and elemental compositions paradoxically indicate freshwater and marine origins, respectively. We propose a new model for coal ball formation. The first step in our model is the episodic delivery of seawater and marine carbonate sediment to coastal mires. Next, these waters are diluted by freshwater and the carbonates dissolve at the elevated pCO2 of the mire subsurface. Finally, as waters flow laterally through stands of arborescent lycopsids, aqueous CO2 in the pore spaces of the peat escapes by diffusion through the air-filled lycopsid rootlets into the overlying water column, where some rootlets are thought to have extended. The CO2 escape drives calcite precipitation in the soil zone. This model explains the narrow temporal occurrence of coal balls, which coincides with the peak diversity of arborescent lycopsids. It also resolves the geochemical conundrum; dilution by freshwater can result in relatively low pore water δ18O values without preventing high-Mg calcite formation. Furthermore, we show mathematically that for published densities of arborescent lycopsid root mats and for reasonable rates of lateral water flow and vertical peat accumulation, CO2 could escape rapidly enough through the rootlets to fill >35% of the porosity with calcite before substantial burial (top several decimeters of peat), explaining the exceptional preservation of coal swamp flora. Therefore, we suggest that coal balls are pedogenic in origin and that their disappearance from the rock record represents

  19. Mechanical characteristics of fully mechanized top-coal caving face and surrounding rock stress shell

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Xie Guang-xiang [Anhui University of Science and Technology, Huainan (China)

    2005-06-15

    The distribution of surrounding rock stress in fully mechanized top-coal caving (FMTC) face was fully researched by large-scale and non-linear three-dimensional numerical simulation and equivalent laboratory. The results show that, there is the structure that is made of macroscopical stress shell composed of high stress binds in overlying strata of FMTC face. Stress shell, which bears and pass load of overlying strata, is primary supporting body. The stress in skewback of stress shell forms abutment pressure of surrounding rock in vicinity of working face. Bond-beam structure lies in reducing zone under stress shell. It only bear partial burden of strata under stress shell. The uppermost mechanical characteristic of FMTC face is lying in the low stress area under stress shell. It is the essential cause of strata behaviors of FMTC face relaxation. On the basis of analyzing stress shell, the mechanical essence that top coal performs a function of bedding is demonstrated. 4 refs., 7 figs.

  20. Analysis of the saturated hydrocarbon in coal, carbonaceous mudstone and oils from the lower Jurassic coal measures in the Turpan Basin by GC/MS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fang Xuan; Meng Qianxiang; Sun Minzhuo; Du Li; Ding Wanren

    2005-01-01

    Saturated hydrocarbon of coal, carbonaceous mudstone and oils from the Lower Jurassic coal measures in the Turpan basin were studied, and biomarker characteristics and coal thermal maturity analyzed to draw the following conclusions. T here are many similar biomarker characteristics between oil from middle-lower Jurassic of Turpan Basin and coal and carbonaceous mudstone in the same strata. They all contain specific r-lupane, I-norbietane, C 24 -tetracyclic and high content of C 29 -steranes. These characteristics suggest that they have similar matter source of the organic matter derived from matter with abundant high plants. Meanwhile, biomarkers often used to indicate depositional environments characterized by high Pr/Ph ratio, little or no gammacerane and high abundance dibenzofurans, such biomarker distributions are indicative of suboxic and freshwater environment. Although coal and carbonaceous mudstone remain in lower thermal maturity (Ro=0.47-0.53), but C 29 -ββ/(αα+ββ) sterane ratio (0.294-0.489) and bezohopane are detected. Because these ferture are related to bacterial activity, bacterial degradation of organic matter maybe take an important role in coal-derived oil. (authors)