The physical and chemical properties of coal with special reference to South African coals

Abstract

There are two variations in every coal seam seam namely type and rank. Type is determined by the plant material from which the coal was formed and rank is the degree of maturation or metamorphism. Rank is the most important property of a coal and it influences virtually every other intrinsic coal property such as moisture, volatile matter, calorific value, carbon content, hydrogen content, absolute density, cocking properties, reflectivity.