OPERATION AND COMPOSITION OF THE PENN STATE COAL SAMPLE BANK AND DATA-BASE

Coal samples and related data are distributed by Penn State to coal researchers worldwide. Over 1400 samples representing all major coal provinces of the U.S.A. have been collected since 1967; over 1100 remain available for distribution. The majority are channel samples collected from active mines to ensure freshness; these may represent all or part of the seam thickness. The samples are crushed and split into smaller quantities representative of the original sample. Storage containers include steel cans for 250-350-g quantities and polyethylene buckets and drums for amounts up to 16 and 120 kg, respectively; foil laminate bags may be used extensively for future samples. Nearly 8000 containers are inventoried by computer so that samples may be easily located. The samples are subjected to a series of analytical procedures aimed at generating the chemical, physical, petrographic, and technological data required by researchers. The resulting data are computerized and may be interactively queried and manipulated. The consistent sampling and analysis methods reduce artificially introduced variability, revealing natural variability between provinces, seams, and locations for study. The scopes of both the Sample Bank and Data Base are summerized to illustrate the range of samples and data available.