--> ABSTRACT: Quality of Coal from the Paleocene Bara Formation, South Sind, Pakistan, by E. R. Landis, R. A. Khan, P. D. Warwick, C. L. Oman, S. A. Khan, L. J. Bragg; #90097 (1990).

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ABSTRACT: Quality of Coal from the Paleocene Bara Formation, South Sind, Pakistan

E. R. Landis, R. A. Khan, P. D. Warwick, C. L. Oman, S. A. Khan, L. J. Bragg

The Geological Survey of Pakistan and the U.S. Geological Survey, under the auspices of the government of Pakistan and the U.S. Agency for International Development, assessed coal quality in parts of the Lakhra and Sonda coal fields in southern Sind Province, Pakistan. The assessment is based on 318 samples collected from the Barn Formation of Paleocene age. Of these, 219 samples may be compared on the as-received basis; the remainder must be compared on the dry basis because the samples were allowed to dry before analysis.

Arithmetic means of proximate analyses for the 219 samples (as-received basis) show that the coals contain about 28% moisture, 28% volatile matter, 25% fixed carbon, and 18% ash. The samples have an average heat-of-combustion of about 6700 Btu/lb. By ASTM standards, the coal has an average apparent rank of subbituminous C and a moist, mineral-matter-free Btu/lb of about 8600. Ultimate analyses for 219 samples (as-received basis) average about 6% hydrogen, 37% carbon, 0.7% nitrogen, 33% oxygen, and 4.8% sulfur. About 70% of the sulfur in the Sind coals is in the form of pyrite, and part of it can be removed through coal cleaning procedures. Similarly, part of the ash may also be removed by coal cleaning methods. The high ash and sulfur contents of much of the southern Sind coal are, of course, undesirable grade factors, but available coal cleaning methods, and combustion technologies such as fluidized bed applications, should allow effective, economical utilization of these coals.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90097©1990 Fifth Circum-Pacific Energy and Mineral Resources Conference, Honolulu, Hawaii, July 29-August 3, 1990