Studies on fusibility chemistry by referring to coking and non-coking coals in view of their detailed structural data

In the present study, we employed a typical coking coal and a non-coking coal, Goonyella and Witbank coals. These coals were heat-treated in an electric furnace, and the resulting char fraction and the devolatilized tar fraction were analyzed by solid-state (13)C NMR and FT-IR spectroscopy, respectively, in order to observe the structural changes during heat-treatment. It was indicated that the decomposition of side chain linked to aromatic cluster occurred, the light gases or the volatile materials which contain aliphatic carbons richly being released during heat-treatment of coal. On the other hand, significant development of aromatic ring system was not observed at the temperature range applied in this study.