University Of Karachi Fuel and Combustion

Experiment no.1

Moisture Content of Coal

Syed Saad Ahmed B-0933040 B.E 3rd Year Chemical Engineering

Submitted To: Sir Fassiullah Sir Saqib

Fuel and Combustion 2012

Experiment no. 1
(Moisture content of coal)

Object:
Determine the percentage free moister of the given sample of the coal.

Apparatus:
y y y y y Muffle furnace Desiccators Oven Petri dish Balance

Theory:
Moisture content: The moisture contained all those substances which vaporize on heating and lead to weight loss of the sample. According to this definition, moisture content includes not only water but also other mass losses such as evaporating organic solvents, alcohols, greases, oils, aromatic components, as well as decomposition and combustion products. The moisture content influences the physical properties of a substance such as weight, density, viscosity, refractive index, electrical conductivity and many more. Typical Moisture Content in Coal
y y y y

Anthracite Coal : 3 6 moisture % Bituminous Coal : 2 - 15 moisture % Sub-bituminous coal: 10-25 moisture % Lignite Coal : 25-45 moisture %

Importance of analyzing moisture content: The presence of moisture is an important factor in both the storage and the utilization of coals, as it adds unnecessary weight during transportation, reduces the calorific value, and poses some handling problems. Trade and industry are also interested in the dry substance. The water present in the product is taken into account when the product is
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Prepared By: Syed Saad Ahmed | B.E Chemical Engineering

Fuel and Combustion 2012

priced. Excess moisture may be determined by subtracting the equilibrium moisture from the total moisture.

Procedure:
1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7) Dry the Petri dish and weigh. Spread out about 5 gm splited uniformly coal sample on the dish. Weigh the dish again to find the mass of the sample and Petri dish. Heat the dish without any cover in the oven at about 1055 0C for 15 to 20 min. Take out the dish from the oven, cool it in the desiccators. Weigh the dish to find the loss in weight of coal due to presence of moisture. Continue the experiment till constant weight is reached.

Observation:
Weight of the Petri dish= 57.13 gm Weight of the given sample of the coal= 5gm Weight of the given sample of the coal and Petri dish=62.13gm o Oven temperature= 110 C After first time heating; Weight of Petri dish and coal sample=62.001 Difference= 62.13-62.001=0.129gm After second time heating; Weight of Petri dish and coal sample=61.974gm Difference=62.001-61.974=0.028gm After sthird time heating; Weight of Petri dish and coal sample=61.973gm Difference=61.974-61.973=0.001gm

Calculation:
    Free moisture % = 3.22%        

Prepared By: Syed Saad Ahmed | B.E Chemical Engineering

Fuel and Combustion 2012 Discussion:

Absorption of moisture from the humidity of the air itself is rapid and there is, with time, a gain of moisture which even without any rain wetting can brings the moisture content to about 5 to 10%, even in well-burned coal. Where coal is sold by weight, keeping the moisture content high by wetting with water is often practiced by dishonest dealers. For this reason bulk buyers of charcoal prefer to buy by weight and determine by laboratory test the moisture content and adjust the price to compensate. The moisture content of given sample of the coal is found to be 3.22% It means that the given sample of the coal may be anthracite or bituminous because the moisture content lies in these type of coal standards. Except this method there are many other methods to determining the moisture content like gravimetric method, chemical method, spectroscopy method, refractometry method, density determination, gas chromatography, nuclear method etc.

Prepared By: Syed Saad Ahmed | B.E Chemical Engineering