FINAL TECHNICAL REPORT

September 1, 1995, through August 31, 1996

Project Title: ILLINOIS BASIN COAL SAMPLE PROGRAM

ICCI Project Number: 95-1/7.1A-1

Principal Investigator: Chusak Chaven, ISGS

Other Investigators: John M. Lytle, Kathleen M. Henry, and Charles C. Rohl, ISGS

Project Manager: Dr. Ken Ho, ICCI

ABSTRACT

The Illinois Basin Coal Sample Program (IBCSP) provides well characterized samples to coal researchers world-wide who wish to include Illinois Basin coal in their research. The program is funded by the Illinois Clean Coal Institute. Coal samples are provided free of charge in most cases to all domestic requestors. This program benefits Illinois researchers funded by the State of Illinois through the Illinois Clean Coal Institute, and also leverages Illinois funds by encouraging research groups throughout the United States and abroad to choose an Illinois Basin Coal for their research. As more characterization data and more information on how each coal behaves in a variety of reactions and processes becomes available, the value of each sample in the program increases. The continual availability of consistent well-characterized coal sample is important for research be extended to other laboratories.

This year's program consisted of four tasks:

(1) maintaining the coals in a nitrogen environment to minimize weathering and oxidation, and performing quality control on the coals semi-annually,

(2) delivering representative samples of the lots of coal in the program to requestors,

(3) responding to requests for information about the coal and how to use them, (4) continuing the on-going planning and publicity of the program, including updating of the ICCI-funded research abstracts, and distributing of the brochure and handbook for IBCSP users to participants to the ICCI's Annual Contractors Conference.

To provide continuity to a coal research program and to avoid repeated costs associated with collecting and characterizing coal samples, the amount of each selected coal is planned and projected to remain available to researchers for 5 to 10 years after acquisition.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The Illinois Basin Coal Sample Program (IBCSP) was established in 1983. Its objective is to make available reproducible coal samples that facilitate comparisons of results among researchers studying Illinois Basin coals. To meet the needs of coal research projects funded by the Illinois Coal Development Board through the Illinois Clean Coal Institute (ICCI), twelve coals have been selected over the years for inclusion in the program. A description of these lots of coal and the averages of analyses including the latest data available, appear in Table 1. Minor oxides and trace elements of all coals in the program analyzed previously are also reported in Table 2 and 3 respectively.

This year's program consists of four tasks:

(1) maintaining the coals in a nitrogen environment to minimize weathering and oxidation, and performing quality control semiannually,

(2) continuing delivering representative samples of the lots of coal in the program to requestors,

(3) responding to requests for information about the coals, and

(4) continuing the ongoing planning and publicity of the program, including updating of the ICCI- funded research abstract database, and distribution of brochure and Handbook for IBCSP Users to those who use or plan to use Illinois Basin coals.

The IBCSP remains the primary source of multi-pound quantity, reproducible coal samples for projects funded by the Illinois Clean Coal Institute (ICCI). The benefits of comparing data obtained by different research groups working on representative splits of the same coal is a significant contribution by this program to today's research on Illinois Basin coals. As more information becomes available on how each coal behaves in different reactions and processes, the value of each sample increases. To ensure continuity of research, the availability of the same well-characterized coals over time is the primary goal of the program, especially if research is to be duplicated in or extended to other laboratories. The amount of each selected coal is projected to remain available to researchers from 5 to 10 years after acquisition into the program. During this contract year, thirty two samples amounting to 1065 pounds of coal were delivered to fifteen requestors. (Table 4). Of these quantities delivered, 720 pounds, or 68 % of total delivery, went to academic researchers, 255 pounds, or 24 %, to the industrial researchers, and 90 pounds, or 8 %, to researchers at government agencies.

Table 1. Analyses of Twelve IBCSP Lots (Moisture Free values)

	IBC-101		IBC-102		IBC-103		IBC-104		IBC-105		IBC-106		IBC-107		IBC-108		IBC-109		IBC-110		IBC-111		IBC-112
	Mean of 20	SD	Mean of 20	SD	Mean of 9	SD	Mean of 9	SD	Mean of 20	SD	Mean of 20	SD	Mean of 8	SD	Mean of 11	SD	Mean of 17	SD	Mean of 17	SD	Mean of 17	SD	Mean of 15	SD
Btu/lb	12611	59	13639	93	13442	81	8533	85	11555	67	13196	61	12228	24	13751	69	13332	51	13076	41	12950	69	13035	36
FSI	3.8	0.6	3.7	0.5	5	0.6	2.6	0.9	3.2	0.4	4.2	0.5	2.3	0.3	3.0	0.8	4.4	0.5	4.4	0.6	3.7	0.6	5.9	0.7
Percent
Moist	15.1	0.5	14.5	0.3	5.8	0.2	10.7	0.3	9.7	0.2	10.6	0.3	9.4	0.1	*		9.2	0.3	10.6	0.2	14.6	0.7	4.8	0.2
V-M	41.1	0.5	40.1	0.5	36.3	0.4	28.5	0.5	37	0.4	40	0.4	40.1	0.3	41.6	0.5	35.4	0.5	39.7	0.5	37.4	0.5	35.9	0.4
F-C	48.5	0.5	3.1	0.4	55	0.6	33.2	0.5	44.3	0.4	49.5	0.7	48.4	0.4	54.8	0.6	56.3	0.6	50.6	0.4	51.5	0.5	53.2	0.4
Ash	10.4	0.3	6.7	0.3	8.7	0.5	38.3	0.6	18.7	0.3	9	0.2	11.5	0.1	3.7	0.2	8.3	0.2	9.7	0.2	11.1	0.2	10.9	0.2
C	69.4	0.5	74.5	0.7	74.5	0.4	46.9	0.5	63.8	0.5	72.4	0.6	68.1	0.2	76.1	0.3	75	0.4	71.3	0.7	71.8	0.5	72.8	0.4
H	5.1	0.1	5.3	0.3	5.	0.2	3.4	0.3	4.5	0.1	5.1	0.2	4.8	0.2	5.3	0.1	4.9	0.2	5.2	0.1	5	0.1	5	0.1
N	1.2	0.1	1.4	0.1	1.7	0.1	0.9	0.1	1.2	0.1	1.5	0.1	1.2	0	1.5	0.1	1.7	0.1	1.5	0.1	1.5	0.1	1.6	0.1
O	9.4	0.6	8.7	0.7	7.6	0.5	6.4	0.5	7.2	0.7	8.2	0.6	10.5	0.1	10.9	0.6	8.3	0.7	7.7	0.1	8.2	0.5	6.9	0.6
Sul. S	0	0	0.1	0	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0.3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Pyr. S	1.1	0.1	2.1	0.2	1.1	0.1	2.4	0.2	2.3	0.2	1.7	0.2	0.5	0.1	0.4	0.1	0.5	0.1	2	0.1	0.9	0.1	1.2	0.1
Org. S	3.2	0.2	1.1	0.2	1.1	0.1	1.7	0.2	2.2	0.3	2	0.2	3	0.1	2.3	0.1	0.7	0.1	2.4	0.2	0.9	0.1	1.6	0.1
Tot. S	4.4	0.1	3.3	0.1	2.3	0.1	4.1	0.1	4.5	0.1	3.8	0.1	3.8	0.1	2.7	0.1	1.2	0.1	4.5	0.2	2	0	2.8	0.
Tot. Cl	0.1	0	0	0.1	0.2	0	0	0	0.1	0	0	0	0.1	0	0.2	0.6	0.4	0.1	0	0.1	0	0	0.2	0.1

August 1996

* The moisture in the filter cake is 45% 5% as supplied

Table 2. Minor oxides of the IBCSP samples in %, moisture free

ELEMENT	IBC-101	IBC-102	IBC-103	IBC-104	IBC-105	IBC-106	IBC-107	IBC-108	IBC-109	IBC-110	IBC-111	IBC-112
SiO2	4.6	1.8	4.1	22.1	8.2	3.9	6.1	1.5	4.0	3.8	5.7	5.5
Al2O3	1.6	0.9	1.8	6.5	2.9	1.7	2.3	0.7	2.0	1.8	2.3	2.2
Fe2O3	1.7	2.8	1.5	3.8	3.4	2.5	1.4	0.7	0.9	2.9	1.6	1.7
MgO	0.1	trace	0.1	0.5	0.2	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1
CaO	0.5	0.2	0.1	1.4	1.2	0.2	0.6	0.1	0.2	0.2	0.2	0.4
Na2O	0.1	trace	trace	0.3	0.2	trace	0.1	trace	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1
K2O	0.2	0.1	0.2	1.0	0.3	0.2	0.3	0.1	0.2	0.2	0.3	0.3
P2O5	trace	trace	trace	0.1	trace	trace	trace	trace	trace	trace	trace	trace
TiO2	0.1	trace	0.1	0.3	0.2	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1	0.1

Table 3. Trace elements of IBC samples, ppm dry coal basis

IBC Numbers

Element 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112* Avg.⁺

Ag <1.0 <1.0 <1 <1 <0.2 <1 <1 <1 <1 <1 <1 <1 <1

As 2 32 16 5 2.6 4.1 0.6 0.1 6.9 4.7 6.1 3.3 7.5

Ba 32.0 14.0 28 135 73 30 55 15 35 43 49 49 44.5

Be 1.4 3.3 1.2 2.7 1.0 3.8 <1.0 1.1 1.0 1.6 3.1 1 <1.4

B 193 109 71 317 79 96 102 105 64 80 104 40 90

Br 6 3 12 3 6.5 2.4 4.7 2.8 18 2.3 1.9 14 11.5

Cd 1.1 0.8 0.1 <0.4 nd 0.2 <0.4 <0.1 <0.3 <0.4 <0.4 <0.3 <1.1

Ce 6 2 10 21 19 10.2 7.7 4.9 8.6 11.9 9.8 12.8 9.8

Co 3 6 5 9 3.8 3.7 2.8 2.3 3.6 3.6 6.6 3.6 3.5

Cr 31 7 16 44 19 10.4 12 14 13 11 14 14 14

Cs 1.1 0.8 1.2 4 1.9 0.8 1.3 0.5 1.1 0.9 1.3 1.3 1

Cu 9.7 21.9 8.0 14.4 9.5 9.4 7.6 4.8 9.5 9.7 8.7 8.3 9.2

Dy 0.6 1.5 0.9 1.7 nd 1.3 nd nd nd 1.2 1.0 0.9 0.9

Eu 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.5 0.2 0.3 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.2

F 106 49 79 638 151 67 85 59 85 68 86 108 82

Ga 3 3 3 10 3.4 3.3 3 2.3 2.8 2.6 5.0 3.4 3.2

Ge <5 30 <5 <5 0.4 2.7 <5 <5 <5 6 9 <5 <9

Hf 0.4 0.2 0.5 1.7 1.0 0.4 0.6 1.7 0.6 0.4 0.6 0.5 0.5

Hg 0.043 0.105 0.12 0.059 0.12 1.14 0.07 0.12 0.11 1.78 2.13 0.07 0.09

La 4 2 7 16 5.9 6.2 4.8 2.2 4.9 6.5 5.5 6.2 5.4

Li 11.3 18.1 29.9 38.9 8.2 5.5 5.2 3.2 6.6 5.6 8.2 12.1 9.4

Lu 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.3 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1

Mn 31 16 13 112 71 20 42 13 15 27.4 30.6 34 37

Mo 15 4 13 6 9 8.7 <5 9 <5 9 <10 15 <12.8

Ni 11 22 14 23 15 15 5 9 11 12 27 14 14.1

Pb 8 149 57 28 6 6 11 5 18 10 18 27 27

Rb 9 5 11 63 20 10 15 3.6 12 11 17 14 12

Sb 0.2 3.4 1.1 0.3 0.3 0.8 0.1 0.2 0.7 0.7 1.9 0.5 0.9

Sc 2.1 2.1 2.6 6.4 2.4 2.4 2.0 1.7 2.2 2.2 3.7 2.6 2.3

Se 1.5 1.3 2.2 2.2 2.4 2.0 1.2 1.5 1.5 2.5 1.5 1.6 1.9

Sm 0.9 0.9 1.4 2.9 1.2 1.2 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.3 1.0 1.0 1.1

Sn <1 <1 <1 1.7 <5 1.1 <5 <5 <5 5 7 <5 <5

Sr 25 12 33 58 29 16.7 35 12 38 22 18 22 32.5

Ta 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.4 0.3 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.1

Tb 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.1 0.2 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2

Th 1.2 0.7 1.3 3.9 3.2 1.4 1.7 1.3 1.6 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.5

Tl <2 <2 <2 <2 1 <1 <1 <1 <1 <1 <1 <1 <1

U <2 <1.5 <4 <3 1.2 1.7 <0.7 1.8 <1 1.1 1.3 7.3 2.3

V 25 22 26 50 23 30 16 34 22 22 30 24 31

W <0.5 <0.5 <0.7 0.9 1.5 0.5 <0.4 <0.5 <0.6 0.4 0.4 0.3 0.4

Yb 0.4 0.6 0.5 1.0 0.5 0.6 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.6 0.5 0.5 0.5

Zn 172 99.8 45.1 175 77 39.8 21.9 9.6 19.8 41 39.3 135 84.4

Zr 16 13 23 51 28 20.3 23 70 22 23 37 28 27

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* Those determined < 0.05 are listed as trace (trc); those given as < are less than the given detection limit;

# IBC-112, a typical Herrin (Illinois No. 6) sample.

+ Average of market available coals Demir et al, 1993, ISGS Open File Series and other unpublished ISGS data.