Coal is the largest source of fossil fuel for power production worldwide (~40% in 2018). It is most important thus, to determine accurately the relevant properties of coal for the utility, mainly: calorific value, volatiles, ash and moisture content [1],[2],[3].
The analysis is carried out today via well-established ASTM & DIN methods [2] which are slow and time consuming.
This study deals with developing new easier and faster accurate methods to determine coal properties via a combined TGA (thermogravimetric analysis)/DSC (differential scanning calorimetry) instrumentation. Two coals, bituminous (American Baily Pittsburgh No. 6), which is used in Israeli utilities, and lignite (brown coal- Hambach from Germany), which is used in German utilities, have been studied[4].
It was found that the TGA/DSC can determine the volatiles, ash and moisture content, as well as the calorific values, all with faster and much better efficiency than the methods used today.