STATE OF ILLINOIS 
 
 WILLIAM G. STRATTON, Governor 
 
 DEPARTMENT OF REGISTRATION AND EDUCATION 
 
 VERA M. BINKS, Director 
 
 DIVISION OF THE 
 
 STATE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 
 
 JOHN C. FRYE, Chief 
 URBANA 
 
 CIRCULAR 197 
 
 EFFECT OF DILUENTS ON THE PLASTIC 
 
 PROPERTIES OF COAL AS MEASURED 
 
 BY THE GIESELER PLASTOMETER 
 
 BY 
 
 O. W. REES and E. D. PIERRON 
 
 PRINTED BY AUTHORITY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS 
 
 URBANA, ILLINOIS 
 19 5 5 
 
 SURVEY LIBRARY 
 JUN f> . 1955 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 
 in 2012 with funding from 
 
 University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign 
 
 http://archive.org/details/effectofdiluents197rees 
 
EFFECT OF DILUENTS ON THE PLASTIC 
 
 PROPERTIES OF COAL AS MEASURED 
 
 BY THE CIESELER PLASTOMETER 
 
 by 
 O. W. Rees and E. D. Pierron 
 
 ABSTRACT 
 
 The effect of some diluents on the plastic properties 
 of two high-volatile bituminous A coals of different 
 maximum -fluidity levels was studied. The diluents, 
 in increments of 10 to 20 percent, were mixed with ' 
 each coal, and plastic properties were determined 
 with the Gieseler plastometer. Data indicate that the 
 duplicability of this method is not satisfactory quanti- 
 tatively but is adequate for qualitative grouping of 
 coals; that use of diluents to improve results is not 
 satisfactory; that addition of increasing amounts of 
 diluents progressively decreases maximum fluidity 
 but not in a linear pattern; and that the chars studied 
 may lower fluidity somewhat more than other diluents. 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 The study of plastic properties of coal for fundamental understanding of 
 behavior and for practical application is of definite importance, but there 
 are many experimental difficulties and uncertainties in interpretation. 
 Numerous descriptions of laboratory methods designed for this purpose are 
 available, but it is not the aim of this report to discuss their relative merits 
 There is considerable disagreement as to the best method available, and 
 
 m as to the measure by which a method may be judged to be useful. There 
 e those who insist that to be useful a method for measuring plastic prop- 
 rties of coal must be quantitative and duplicable from laboratory to 
 laboratory. On the other hand, there are those who believe that a method 
 *hich gives only qualitative or semiquantitative results may be useful in 
 Riding data on the basis of which coals may be grouped and comparisons 
 
 thai £ T- lab i ° rat0r y we tend to agree with the latter group. We have found 
 nat the Gieseler plastometer yields results which permit useful evaluation 
 coals for certain applications (Reed et al. , 1952). Consequently we have 
 tinued to use it and have studied the variables involved for the purpose of 
 possible improvement of the instrument and for better understanding of the 
 results obtained. 
 
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PLASTIC PROPERTIES OF COAL 3 
 
 This report covers a study of the effect of diluents on the plastic prop- 
 erties of two high-volatile bituminous A coals of different maximum -fluidity 
 levels as measured with the Gieseler plastometer. The objectives of this 
 work were: 1) to better evaluate the Gieseler plastometer as an instrument 
 for measuring plastic properties of coals, 2) to learn more about the effect 
 of diluents on the plastic properties of coal, 3) to learn whether diluents may 
 be added in definite amounts to badly swelling coals to obtain better plastic 
 property data for them, and 4) to learn whether chars as diluents behave in a 
 distinctive manner. 
 
 APPARATUS 
 
 The Gieseler plastometer used in this work was built in the Survey 
 machine shop according to the description published by Soth and Russell 
 (1943) but with certain changes described in a recent publication (Rees and 
 Pierron, 1954). The instrument includes a modification in the head to 
 permit a fixed position of the thruslrtrearing and provision for removal of 
 decomposition gases by suction. Temperature control is accomplished man- 
 ually by means of an auto-transformer to give a rate of heat rise of 3°C. per 
 minute. Temperature readings are obtained by means of a chromel-alumel 
 thermocouple and a Bristol pyrometer calibrated from 250°C. to 500°C. 
 
 The values determined with the Gieseler plastometer are defined as 
 follows : 
 
 Softening temperature. - The temperature at which dial pointer 
 
 movement reaches 0. 5 dial divisions per minute. 
 Fusion temperature. - The temperature at which dial pointer 
 
 movement reaches 5. dial divisions per minute. 
 Maximum fluid temperature. - The temperature at which dial 
 
 pointer movement reaches maximum rate. 
 Setting temperature. - The temperature at which dial pointer 
 
 movement stops. 
 Maximum fluidity. - The maximum rate of dial pointer move- 
 ment in dial divisions per minute. 
 Plastic range. - The temperature range from the softening 
 
 temperature to the setting temperature, in which the coal 
 
 is plastic. 
 
 SAMPLES 
 
 For this work, coals representing two levels of maximum fluidity were 
 sed, one of > 15000 dial divisions per minute, and the other of 2000 or less 
 dial divisions per minute. The former, or more fluid, coal was from the 
 Hernshaw seam of West Virginia; the other was from the Elkhorn No. 3 seam 
 of eastern Kentucky. Two samples of each coal were obtained at different 
 mes. In the discussion which follows they will be referred to as the base 
 coals. 
 
 The materials used as diluents were as follows: 
 
 With the Hernshaw coal - Illinois high-volatile C bituminous 
 coal (HVCB), Illinois high-volatile B bituminous coal 
 
ILLINOIS STATE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 
 
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PLASTIC PROPERTIES OF COAL 5 
 
 (HVBB), Pocahontas No. 3 coal, anthracite, char of ap- 
 proximately 22% volatile matter, char of approximately 
 16% volatile matter, coke, graphite, and carborundum. 
 With the Elkhorn coal - Illinois high-volatile B bituminous 
 coal, Pocahontas No. 3 coal, anthracite, char of approx- 
 imately 22% volatile matter, char of approximately 16% 
 volatile matter, coke, and graphite. 
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 the base coals and some of the diluent coals were obtained at intervals during 
 the course of the work rather than taking the entire sample at the beginning. 
 Because of this, plastic property data for base coals and, to some extent, for 
 certain diluent coals, appear somewhat different in the tabular data. However, 
 samples were never changed within a given series. 
 
 PROCEDURE 
 
 The base coals and diluents were each manually stage -ground to pass a 
 40-mesh sieve. Test portions were prepared by mixing the diluents, in incre- 
 ments of 10 or 20 percent, with each of the base coals. Each portion was 
 thoroughly mixed, and plastic properties were determined with the Gieseler 
 plastometer. Determinations on the base coals were made at the beginning 
 and at the end of each series of tests. All determinations were made in dup- 
 licate. 
 
 RESULTS 
 
 Tables 1 and 2 present a study of the duplicability of results for this 
 work. Data obtained for mixtures of diluents 7 with the Hernshaw coal are 
 shown in table 3. Data for mixtures of diluents with the Elkhorn coal are 
 shown in table 4. Graphic representation of the effect of diluents on both base 
 coals is shown on semilogarithmic scale in figures 1 to 9. Table 5 shows per- 
 centage reductions of maximum fluidities of base coals by diluents, arranged 
 according to decreasing volatile -matter content. 
 
 DISCUSSION 
 
 Reference to table 1 will give a picture of the duplicability of data. Dup- 
 licate temperature values checked satisfactorily throughout the work. Con- 
 sidering all data, the average difference between duplicate maximum -fluidity 
 values was 15.9% with a range of difference from to 100%. For the Hern- 
 shaw coal with diluents the average difference was 15.1% and the range from 
 to 77.8%. For the Elkhorn coal with diluents the average difference was 
 19.3% and the range from to 100%. For the base coals only, the duplicability 
 was better, being 6.9% average, with a range from to 13.3%. 
 
 A comparison of maximum fluidity duplicabilities obtained for mixtures 
 of base coals with the various diluents is shown in table 2. The best duplica- 
 tion was obtained when high -volatile ft' bituminous coal was used as a diluent 
 with Hernshaw coal. Of the diluents that have no Gieseler fluidity, coke and 
 carborundum gave best duplication of results with the Hernshaw coal. For 
 the Elkhorn coal with diluents, the lowest average difference between dupli- 
 
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 Percent Diluent Added 
 
 Fig. 1. - Effect of Illinois HVCB coal as diluent on maximum fluidity. 
 Fig. 2. - Effect of Illinois HVBB coal as diluent on maximum fluidity. 
 Fig. 3. - Effect of char (22% V. M.) as diluent on maximum fluidity. 
 Fig. 4. - Effect of Pocahontas No. 3 coal as diluent on maximum fluidity. 
 
 Solid lines identify the Hernshaw coal, dotted lines the Elkhorn No. 3 coal. 
 
PLASTIC PROPERTIES OF COAL 9 
 
 cates was found when char of approximately 16% volatile matter was used 
 (14.2%). In this case, however, the range of differences between the lowest 
 and highest was rather large (0 to 43.8%). The lowest range of differences 
 was obtained when Pocahontas coal was used as diluent. It is of interest to 
 note that in no case did the diluents tried improve duplicability of results for 
 base coals. 
 
 TEMPERATURE VALUES 
 
 The apparent influence on Gieseler plasticity values of diluents added to 
 base coals is shown in tables 3 and 4. The data indicate that fusion temper- 
 atures increase as increased amounts of Pocahontas coal, both chars, coke, 
 and anthracite are added to the base coals. This is true also for anthracite 
 with the Hernshaw coal, whereas this diluent with the Elkhorn coal shows no 
 marked influence on fusion temperature. Addition of high-volatile B bitumi- 
 nous coal as a diluent to both base coals showed no marked influence. High- 
 volatile C bituminous coal was tried as a diluent with the Hernshaw coal only. 
 The data indicate a gradual increase in fusion temperature as increasing 
 amounts of diluents were added. Carborundum with Hernshaw coal showed 
 no marked influence on fusion temperature up to 70% addition. Temperatures 
 with 80 and 90% addition were higher. 
 
 With one exception, no striking influence of diluents appears in the max- 
 imum-fluidity temperature data. Increasing additions of Pocahontas coal to 
 both base coals raises maximum -fluidity temperatures. 
 
 Increasing amounts of all diluents, with the exception of Pocahontas coal, 
 appear to lower setting temperatures for both base coals. 
 
 MAXIMUM FLUIDITY 
 
 All diluents used progressively lowered maximum fluidities of both base 
 coals as the amount of diluent added was increased. However, this lowering 
 is not directly proportional to the amount of diluent added (figs. 1 to 9). Fur- 
 thermore, the lowering effect of the diluents varies considerably for each 
 base coal. 
 
 Table 5 gives data for the percentage reduction of maximum fluidity of 
 base coals by increasing amount of diluents, and shows that percentage re- 
 duction of maximum fluidity of base coals increases rapidly as increasing 
 amounts of diluents are added. The data also indicate considerable differ- 
 ences among diluents in their ability to lower fluidity. Not only is this true 
 for different diluents with the same base coal, but the effect of each diluent 
 on each base coal is different. With regard to this point, there is evidence 
 that additions of 10 to 30% diluent to the Hernshaw coal reduce its maximum 
 fluidity less and less as the volatile -matter content of the diluent decreases. 
 This effect is not evident with the Elkhorn coal; in fact, there is some indica- 
 tion of the reverse. The question arises as to the cause of the difference in 
 behavior of diluents with the two base coals. We cannot answer this question 
 definitely but suspect that there may be a difference in kind as well as quan- 
 tity of constituents, which may affect the plastic properties of the two base 
 coals and lead to the differences shown. 
 
10 
 
 ILLINOIS STATE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 
 
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 Fig. 6. - Effect of anthracite as diluent on maximum fluidity. 
 Fig. 7. - Effect of coke as diluent on maximum fluidity. 
 Fig. 8. - Effect of graphite as diluent on maximum fluidity. 
 
 Solid lines identify the Hernshaw coal, dotted lines the Elkhorn No. 3 coal. 
 
PLASTIC PROPERTIES OF COAL 
 
 13 
 
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 Another interesting point in table 5 is the indication that there is some- 
 thing more than simple dilution involved in the reduction of maximum fluidity 
 by the diluents. If simple dilution alone were involved, then maximum fluid- 
 ities of base coals should be reduced by the same percentage as the percent- 
 age of diluent added. In only one case is this approximated - addition of 10% 
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 (10% added) of volatile -matter content greater than that of anthracite reduced 
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 base coal and diluent, solvent effect of one on the other, and difference in 
 wettability of solid diluent particles by melted base coal might be possible 
 factors involved. Whatever the cause may be, it appears that each base coal 
 in admixture with each diluent is a distinct and individual problem. 
 
14 
 
 ILLINOIS STATE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 
 
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PLASTIC PROPERTIES OF COAL 
 
 15 
 
 Attention also is called to the behavior of the two chars as diluents as 
 shown in table 5. The data indicate that the char of 16% volatile matter was 
 more effective in reducing the maximum fluidity of Hernshaw coal than the 
 char of 22% volatile matter. The reverse appears to be true for the Elkhorn 
 coal. With the Hernshaw coal, both chars appear to behave more nearly like 
 the Illinois HVCB and HVBB coals and Pocahontas coal. With the Elkhorn 
 coal, they behave more nearly like graphite. 
 
 In general, data presented in this report indicate that of the diluents 
 tried with Hernshaw coal, char of 16% volatile matter (up to 30% addition) 
 exerted the greatest influence in reducing maximum fluidity and carborundum 
 the least. Data are somewhat less indicative for the Elkhorn coal, but pos- 
 sibly the two chars and graphite exerted the greatest influence and anthracite 
 the least. 
 
 PLASTIC RANGE 
 
 In general, addition of increasing amounts of all diluents brings about 
 progressive decreases of plastic ranges of both base coals. However these 
 decreases are not linear. Carborundum appears to narrow the plastic range 
 of Hernshaw coal less than the other diluents. Beyond this, no generaliza- 
 tions are definitely apparent. 
 
 CONCLUSIONS 
 
 The following tentative conclusions are made, based on the data presented 
 in this report: 
 
 1. The Gieseler plastometer is useful in obtaining qualitative 
 or semiquantitative data on the plastic properties of coals. 
 For quantitative results, the instrument is not satisfactory. 
 
 2. Addition of diluents to improve results is not satisfactory, 
 as their effect is not linear and not the same for different 
 coals. 
 
 3. Additions of increasing amounts of diluents progressively 
 decrease the fluidity of the coals to which they are added, 
 but not in a predictable amount. 
 
 4. There is some indication that the chars lower fluidity of 
 base coals slightly more than certain other diluents, but 
 the data are not too impressive. 
 
REFERENCES 
 
 p P d F H Jackman, H. W., Rees, O. W., and Henline, P. W., 1952, Some ob- 
 
 Re 1; rv 'aUons onThe Mending of coals for metallurgical coke: Blast Furnace 
 and Steel Plant, March 1952; reprinted as Illinois Geol. Survey C.rc. 178. 
 
 Rees O. W., and Pierron, E. D., 1954, Plastic and swelling properties of Ill- 
 inois coals: Illinois Geol. Survey Circ. 190. 
 
 JD ...11 C C 1943 The Gieseler method for measurement 
 
 "^^pCuc^rrtteHs'cro/coal: Proc. Am. Soc. Testing Materials, 
 v. 43, p. 1176. 
 
CIRCULAR 197 
 
 ILLINOIS STATE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 
 
 URBAN A