Comparison of methods of predicting the higher thermal combustion of coal

Formulas for predicting the higher heat of combustion of coal on the basis of technical analysis (the yield of volatiles), elementary analysis, and petrographic analysis are verified. It is found that the formulas are only valid for the samples used in their derivation. Statistical analysis of data for coal from the Donetsk and Lvov-Volynsk basins shows that the higher heat of combustion of such coal is most accurately described by a mathematical formula in which the predictors are petrographic characteristics of the initial coal components, including the reflection coefficient of vitrinite. The mean higher heat of combustion may be determined for vitrinite at different metamorphic stages (for ranks from D to T) and also for liptinite and the sum of fusinized (lean) components in Ukrainian Donetsk and Lvov-Volynsk coal.