Studies of low rank coal stabilities. Final report

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Pittsburgh Research Center, tested feed coal and product samples from Wyoming and Montana for thermal stability in the adiabatic oven and sealed flask apparatus. The results indicated that the products had higher thermal stabilities in comparison with the feed coals. However, both the products samples and feed coals exhibited high spontaneous combustion potentials. A report on these studies was submitted in December 1995. Experiments were also completed in the adiabatic oven to determine the rate of decrease in the heating rate of a reactive sample on exposure to pulses of moist air, and moist nitrogen. The results indicated that with each succeeding pulse, longer time were required to reach selected elevated temperatures. The results also indicated some level of synergy between water and oxygen in the heat generation reaction. The data and results were transmitted to Dr. Dennis Finseth upon completion of the experiments