Relation Of Ash Composition To The Uses Of Coal

ASH in coal has always been regarded as an undesirable substance, as the heat content of a coal decreases in direct proportion to its ash content. It represents so much inert material that has to be transported, handled when the coal is burned, and finally disposed of. W. R. Roberts, in an address before the Engineers' Society of Western Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, on Sept. 29, 1925, said that on an annual output of five hundred million tons of coal, a reduction of 3 per cent. of ash means fifteen million tons of refuse and a decrease of $30,000,000 in freight charges. Ash also often prevents efficient utilization of the coal through the formation of clinker caused by the melting of the ash constituents when subjected to heat. The mineral constituents of coal may be of such nature as to make the coal unsuited for specific uses, as for instance, high-sulfur coal for making metallurgical coke. While the usual proximate analysis of coal gives the amount of ash, it gives no information as to the nature and composition of the ash nor of the mineral constituents from which the ash is produced. For the efficient washing of coal to remove ash-forming constituents it is desirable to know the composition and distribution of the ash-forming constituents. Obviously such information is also desirable for the most efficient utilization of coal.