Study of Changes to the Organic Functional Groups of a High Volatile Bituminous Coal during Organic Acid Treatment Process by FTIR Spectroscopy

B. Manoj, Ponni Narayanan

Department of Physics, Christ University, Karnataka, India.

DOI: 10.4236/jmmce.2013.12008                

Abstract

A high volatile bituminous coal was subjected to a series of organic acid treatment in steps using citric acid (1 hr and 2 hr) and buffered EDTA with acetic acid (1 to 3 hr) at room temperature. Leaching was performed with acetic acid (2N) also for 1 hr. Citric acid procedure reduced the mineral matter below 1.94%. Calcites and aluminates are completely removed along with substantial quantity of silicates by citric acid leaching. The change in absorption of organic functional groups and mineral matter in coal samples were studied using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Analysis indicated that oxygen containing species were decreased in the coal structure during acetic acid and citric acid (40%) procedure and buffered EDTA 3 hours leaching. As the period of leaching with buffered EDTA increased from 1 hr to 3 hr, organic functional groups and mineral functional groups decreased its intensity. The results indicated that the described acid treatment procedures with citric acid have measurable effects on the coal structure.

Keywords

Leaching; Bituminous Coal; Minerals; FTIR

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

References

[1]	[1] C. Acharya, R. N. Kar and L. B. Sukla,“ Studies on Reaction Mechanism of Bioleaching of Manganese,” Minerals Engineering, Vol. 169, No. 10, 2003, pp. 1027-1030. doi:10.1016/S0892-6875(03)00239-5
[2]	D. K. Sharma and G. Wadhwa, “Demineralization of Coal by Stepwise Bioleaching: A Comparative Study of Three Indian Coals by Fourier Transform Infra Red and X-Ray Diffraction Techniques,” World Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology, Vol. 13, No. 1, 1997, pp. 29-36. doi:10.1007/BF02770804
[3]	B. Manoj and A. G. Kunjomana, “Chemical Leaching of an Indian Bituminous Coal and Characterization of the Products by Vibrational Spectroscopic Techniques,” International Journal of Minerals Materials and Metallurgy, Vol. 19, No. 4, 2012, pp. 279-283.
[4]	Y. Osawa and J. W. Shih, “Infra-Red Spectra of Japanese Coal: The Absorption Bands at 3450 and 1260 cm-1,” Fuel, Vol. 50, No. 1, 1971, pp. 53-57. doi:10.1016/S0016-2361(71)81019-0
[5]	M. Sobkowiak and P. C. Painter, “Determination of the Aliphatic and Aromatic CH Contents of Coals by FT-i.r.: Studies of Coal Extracts,” Fuel, Vol. 71, No. 10, 1992, pp. 1105-1125. doi:10.1016/0016-2361(92)90092-3
[6]	S. Chomnanti, P. Deemak, A. F. Gaines, K. Kasomson, K. Keowkamnerd, V. Lorvidhya, C. Pomilying, N. Sucharitakul, V. V. Witsuksomba and W. Wiroyamon, “A Study of an Oil Shale,” Fuel, Vol. 49, No. 2, 1970, pp. 188-196. doi:10.1016/0016-2361(70)90039-6
[7]	B. Manoj and A. G. J. Kunjomana, “Chemical Solubilization of Coal Using HF and Characterization of Products by FTIR, FT Raman, SEM and Elemental Analysis,” Mineral Material Characterization and Engineering, Vol. 9, No. 10, 2010, pp. 919-928.
[8]	A. N. Mohan and B. Manoj, “Synthesis and Characterization of Carbon Nanosphere from Hydrocarbon Soot,” International Journal of Electrochemical Sciences, Vol. 7, 2012, pp. 9537-9549.
[9]	S. Supaluknari, F. P. Larkins, P. Redlich and W. R. Jackson, “An FTIR Study of Australian Coals: Characterization of Oxygen Functional Groups,” Fuel Processing Technology, Vol. 19, No. 2, 1988, pp. 123-140.
[10]	M. J. D. Low and A. S. Glass, “The Assignment of the 1600 cm?1 Mystery Band of Carbons,” Spectroscopy Letters: An International Journal for Rapid Communication, Vol. 22, No. 4, 1983, pp. 417-429. doi:10.1080/00387018908053891
[11]	B. Manoj and A. G. Kunjomana, “Study of Stacking Structure of Amorphous Carbon by X-Ray Diffraction Technique,” International Journal of Electrochemical Sciences, Vol. 7, No. 4, 2012, pp. 434-444.
[12]	B. Manoj and A. G. Kunjomana, “Structural Characterization of Selected Indian Coals by X-Ray Diffraction and Spectroscopic Technique,” Journal of Applied Scientific Research, Vol. 7, No. 6, 2012, pp. 421-433.
[13]	Y. Ghorbani, M. Oliazadeh, A. Shavedi, R. Roohi and A. Pirayehgar, “Use of Some Isolated Fungi in Biological Leaching of Aluminum from Low Grade Bauxite,” African Journal of biotechnology, Vol. 6, No. 11, 2007, pp. 1284-1288.
[14]	B. Manoj, A. G. Kunjomana and K. A. Chandrasekharan, “Chemical Leaching of Low Rank Coal and Its Characterization Using SEM/EDAX and FTIR,” Journal of Minerals & Materials Characterization & Engineering, Vol. 8, No. 10, 2009, pp. 821-832.