Coal and Its relationship to Oil/Gas

 When discussing oil in terms of formation and occurrences it is

necessary to review briefly on coal formation

 Both originated form plants, subjected to same geological processes

includes; bacterial action, burial, compaction and heating which
constitutes diagenesis and catagenesis upto metagenesis.

 However, there are differences;

i. Coal formed at site of deposition

ii. Solid and massive organic substances

iii. Higher plants

iv. Non-marine environment or parallic condition

 Coal
According to ICCP (International Commission for Coal Petrology) in
1963 define coal as “a combustible sedimentary rock formed from
plant remains in various stages of preservation by processes which
involved the compaction of the material buried in basins, initially of
moderate depth”

 It is clear that it is the combination of organic constituents (Plant

remains, vesicular and non vesicular part) and inorganic (minerals
of rock).

Coalification Process
 The alteration undergone during burial, when referring to coal,
coalification.

 Coalification is a combination set of biological, physical and

chemical processes, and is comprised of five successive but
overlapping stages, which in return give series of coal ranks.
1. Peatification
2. Dehydration
3. Bituminization
4. Debituminization
5. Graphitization

 There are no sharp divisions between stages. These five stages also
correspond more or less to the evolutionary stages described by
Tissort and Welte (1984):

 Peatification and dehydration correspond to diagenesis,

bituminization and debituminization to catagenesis, and
graphitization to metagenesis.

 The above five stages, plant remains proceed from peat, lignite,
sub-bituminous coal, bituminous coal, anthracite coal, to graphite (a
pure carbon mineral).
Rank of Coal
 These terms (peat, lignite, sub-bituminous, bituminous and
anthracite) are used to represent different stages of the coalification
process, indicating the rank of the coal.

Constituents of Coal
1. Megascopic Constituents
 Terms as ingredients or lithotypes and can be divided into;

i. Humic Coal
 Humic coal more common, pass through peat stage.

 Derived mainly from megascopic parts of the plant debris (wood,

leaves or bark) deposited under oxic to sub-oxic condition.

 This coal is banded, lustreous dark brown and black and can be
classified into: vitrain, clarain, durain, fusain.
ii. Sapropelic Coal
 This coal is unbanded, dull in appearance, they do not pass throuh
peat stage but follow the diagenetic pathway.

 Derived mainly from microscopic parts of the plant (spores, resins,

waxes and algal materials) under sub-oxic to anoxic condition.

 This coal may occur as lenses or thin layers (within humic coal) and
can be classified into: boghead and cannel coals.
2. Microscopic Constituents
 The microscopic constituents are termed as “macerals”: it is define
by Stope, 1935 and is derived from Latin word “macerare”
meaning minerals. It is the equivalent word for mineral in rock.

 The microscopic constituents are derived from different organs or

tissues of plant.

 A maceral coal has different physical and chemical properties and

can be classified into three groups according to greyness in
reflected light (Fig):

i. Liptinite (dark grey):

 Derived mostly from algae or spores, pollens, cuticles, and resins in
the original plant material.

 They are known to have the richest hydrogen content and the
highest petroleum potential.
ii. Vitrinite (medium to light grey)
 Derived from wood, bark, and roots.

 They contain less hydrogen than the liptinites do, but higher than
inertinites.

iii. Inertinite (white and may be very bright)

 which are mainly oxidation products of the other macerals and are
consequently richer in carbon.

 Coals can contain different relative proportions of liptinites,

vitrinites and inertinites, each having its own molecular
compositions, and a given capacity to generate oil and gas.
Hydrocarbon Potential of Coal