COMPARISON OF METHODS FOR THE DETERMINATION OF ORGANIC OXYGEN IN COALS

Coals distributed widely in rank and geographical origin have been analysed for organically-bound oxygen by several conventional and fast neutron activation analysis (FNAA) techniques. Pyrolysis of demineralized coal with measurement of evolved CO//2 by coulometry was found to be the most reliable of the conventional methods. Direct FNAA determinations of organic oxygen by analyses of demineralized coal (DMC) samples yielded data in excellent agreement with pyrolysis, as did values computed using a modified 'by difference' calculation. However, observed mineralogy-dependent deviations from a simple inorganic oxygen-silicon relationship suggest that the latter technique would be most successful when applied to coals with similar mineralogy.