Fuel 150 (2015) 96–101

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Fuel
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/fuel

Composition, mineral matter characteristics and ash fusion behavior

of some Indian coals
S. Chakravarty ⇑, Ashok Mohanty, Amit Banerjee, Ruchira Tripathy, G.K. Mandal, M. Raviathul Basariya,
Mamta Sharma
CSIR-National Metallurgical Laboratory, Jamshedpur 831007, Jharkhand, India

h i g h l i g h t s

 Evaluation of chemical and mineralogical compositions of coal samples of India.

 Correlation of chemical and mineral composition to ash fusion temperatures.
 Identification of mineral phases present in coal and ash samples.
 FactSage prediction of equilibrium phase transformations and ash fusion behavior.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: The present study aims to evaluate the chemical and mineralogical compositions of coal samples collect-
Received 23 September 2014 ed from three different seams of a particular borehole of Samaleswari Block, Ib river coalfield, Odisha,
Received in revised form 4 February 2015 India. Different experimental and theoretical studies were conducted to predict and correlate the chemi-
Accepted 5 February 2015
cal and mineral composition of coal ash to ash fusion temperatures. The experimental techniques used
Available online 16 February 2015
include proximate analysis, ultimate analysis, gross calorific value determination and chemical analysis
of coal ash for quantification of major oxides such as SiO2, Al2O3, Fe2O3, CaO, MgO, Na2O, K2O, SO3 and
Keywords:
TiO2. In addition, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and electron probe micro analysis (EPMA) techniques were used
Indian coal
Coal ash
to identify the mineral phases present in coal and ash samples. Finally, FactSage Thermodynamics Model
Ash fusion temperatures (FactSage 6.3) was used to understand the ash fusion behavior and to predict the phase transformations
Coal mineralogy that occur during the process of coal combustion.
FactSage Ó 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Coal is the dominant energy source and one of the major natural
resources available in India. Nearly 55% of country’s primary com-
mercial energy supply and about 70% of total electricity generation
is from coal [1,2]. Therefore, detail information on elemental and
mineralogical composition of Indian coal is essential to optimize
coal utilization technologies such as combustion, gasification, liq-
uefaction and coking as well as for environment considerations.
The quality of Indian coal is generally poor having high ash content
(ranging from 30% to 50%), high moisture content (4–20%), low
sulfur content (0.2–0.7%), and low calorific values (between 10.5
and 20.9 MJ/kg) [1,2]. Indian coal seams are generally inter-banded
with mineral sediments and amount of ash in coal increases as one
move from the core of the coal seam to its floor, hence, the quality
⇑ Corresponding author. Tel.: +91 657 2345063.
E-mail address: sanchita@nmlindia.org (S. Chakravarty).
of coal gets worsen with increasing depth [1,2]. Although some
preliminary studies have been carried out on petrographic charac-
teristics and mineral matter content of Indian coals [3–6], little
information has been published on the nature and relative propor-
tions of the individual minerals, the modes of mineral occurrence,
and the associations between the different groups of minerals pre-
sent within the Indian coals.
During burning of coal, minerals undergo thermal decomposi-
tion, fusion, disintegration and agglomeration. This causes major
industrial problems such as ash clinkering, slagging, fouling,
agglomeration, and deposition on heat exchange surfaces. The nat-
ure and distribution of mineral matter in coal determines the
degree to which these problems are likely to occur during coal com-
bustion [7]. Ash fusion temperatures (AFTs) are the parameters
commonly used to predict the behavior of coal ash (ash fusibility
and melting behavior) during the processes of coal combustion,
gasification, liquefaction and ash utilization. It is more or less estab-
lished that AFTs depend strongly on the chemical composition of

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2015.02.015
0016-2361/Ó 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 S. Chakravarty et al. / Fuel 150 (2015) 96–101 97

coal ash and a number of studies have found empirical and statisti-
cal correlations between coal ash compositions and AFTs [8–11].
Many experimental techniques like scanning electron microscope
(SEM), energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy analyzer (EDX),
C1
X-ray diffractometry, thermogravimetric analyzers [12–17] and
some theoretical models like thermodynamic computer package
FactSage, partial least-squares regression method, back propaga-
tion neural network model [18–20] have been used to either predict
or calculate AFTs from chemical composition of coal ash. However,
correlation between mineral matter composition and ash fusion
temperatures has not been reported so far for Indian coals.
The present study aims to evaluate the chemical and miner-
alogical compositions of coal samples collected from three differ-
ent seams of a particular borehole of Samaleswari Block, Ib river
coalfield, Odisha, India. Subsequently, different experimental and
theoretical studies were conducted to predict and correlate the
chemical and mineral composition of coal ash to AFTs. The
experimental techniques used include proximate analysis, ulti-
mate analysis, gross calorific value determination and chemical
analysis of coal ash for quantification of major oxides such as C15
SiO2, Al2O3, Fe2O3, CaO, MgO, Na2O, K2O, SO3 and TiO2. In addition,
X-ray diffraction (XRD) and electron probe micro analysis (EPMA)
techniques were used to identify the mineral phases present in
coal and ash samples. Finally, FactSage Thermodynamics Model
(FactSage 6.3) was used to understand the ash fusion behavior
and to predict the phase transformations that occur during the
process of combustion.

2. Geological setting

In the mineral map of India, the state of Odisha occupies an

important position in terms of both deposit and production of coal.
The coal samples used in the present investigation were collected
from Samaleswari block of Ib valley coal field, Odisha, India. The
coal field falls within latitude of 220 030 3200 & 220 040 1100 (N)
and longitude of 830 420 1800 & 830 440 0800 (E). The coal bearing
strata are made up of different coal seams as shown in Fig. 1. Coal
samples were collected from three different seams, C1 (depth:
20–24 m), C15 (depth: 100–140 m) and C96 (depth: 217–260 m). C96

3. Materials and methods

3.1. Preparation of coal samples

Coal samples collected from three seams C1 (depth: 20–24 m),
C15 (depth: 100–140 m) and C96 (depth: 217–260 m) were
crushed, pulverized and passed through 72 mesh sieve using a
sieve shaker. The method of sampling and sample preparation for
the chemical analysis was according to Indian Standard (IS: 436,
1964). Coal samples were ashed by heating at 750 °C in air for
1 h in a muffle furnace as per ASTM D3174-11.
3.2. Chemical characterization
Proximate analysis on air dried basis was conducted using
TGA-1000 automated proximate analyzer (Navas Instruments,
USA). Ultimate analysis was conducted using Vario EL III CHNS
analyzer (Elementar GmbH, Germany). The gross calorific value
was determined using Parr 6200 bomb calorimeter (Parr, USA).
Chemical analysis of major inorganic elements present in coal
and its ash samples were carried out by using VARIAN Vista MPX
Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometer
(ICP-OES) after microwave digestion as per ASTM D6349-09.
Fig. 1. Stratigraphy of the Samaleswari block of Ib valley coal field, Odisha, India
and its coal seam nomenclature.
3.3. Mineral matter characterization
Mineral matter composition of the coal and its ash samples
were determined using D8 Discover XRD instrument (Bruker,
Germany). Ni-filtered Cu Ka was the radiation source and the scan
was performed at 2h range of 10–70° at a scan rate of 2°/min. High
Score Plus software package was used to analyze the XRD curves.
Localized determination of mineral grain size and mineral compo-
sition present in coal samples and its corresponding ash samples
was carried out using electron probe micro analyzer (EPMA) model
JXA 8230, JEOL, Japan.
3.4. Measurement of ash fusion temperatures
Ash fusion temperature determinator (AF 700, LECO, USA) was
used to investigate AFTs of coal ashes under oxygen atmosphere.
The procedure involves heating an ash cone at 15 °C min1 up to
98 S. Chakravarty et al. / Fuel 150 (2015) 96–101

900 °C and then changing the heating rate to 5 °C min1. During different coal ashes at various temperature ranging from 700 °C
the process of AFT measurement, the initial deformation tem- to 1500 °C at a pressure of 1 atm. The thermodynamic phase equi-
perature (DT), softening temperature (ST), hemispherical tem- libria package used in this work was FactSage, version 6.3.
perature (HT) and fluid temperature (FT) were recorded Databases used for calculations of compounds were FactPS, ELEM,
according to the specific shape of the ash cone. FTmisc and FToxide. The elemental concentrations of coal ash were
used as input data for thermodynamic calculations.
3.5. Thermodynamic calculations
4. Results and discussions
A thermodynamic equilibrium calculation based on FactSage
computer software using ‘‘equilibrium module’’ was used for 4.1. Coal quality and mineralogy
predicting the multi-phase equilibria and their proportions for
For Indian coal, it is generally observed that quality of coal var-
ies significantly as one move from one seam to other within the
Table 1 same borehole [2]. In the present study, quality of the coal samples
Proximate (air dry basis), ultimate, GCV and forms of sulfur analysis of coal samples.
C1, C15 and C96 collected from three different seams of a par-
Component C1 C15 C96 ticular borehole of Samaleswari block of Ib valley coal field, Odisha,
Moisture (%) 3.87 3.18 4.04 India was evaluated by performing proximate, ultimate and gross
Ash (%) 31.6 44.4 35.42 calorific value (GCV) analysis. The result (on air dried basis) is pre-
Volatile matter (%) 24.7 29.68 26.53 sented in Table 1. Coals of all the three seams are of poor quality
Fixed carbon (%) 39.83 22.74 34.01
having high ash content (31.6–44.4%), low fixed carbon content
Gross calorific value (cal/g) 4988 3892 4110
C (total) (%) 44.91 35.71 39.32 (22.74–39.83%) and GCV in the range of 3892–4988 cal/g. Howev-
H (%) 1.99 2.26 2.12 er, the total sulfur content is relatively low (0.36–0.78%) and
N (%) 1.14 0.71 1.03 majority of the sulfur is associated with the coal macerals i.e.
S (total) (%) 0.36 46.74 0.78
organically associated sulfur. The volatile matter content of the
Water soluble S (ppm) 73.0 0.48 100
Pyritic S (%) 0.02 0.18 0.1
coals of all the three seams is more or less same (24.7–29.68%).
Organic S (%) 0.33 0.5 0.37 Among the three seams, coal of the seam C1 is of better quality
with highest fixed carbon content (39.83%) and has highest GCV
(4988 cal/g).
Mineralogy of the inorganic components of coal samples was
studied using X-ray powder diffraction technique. Knowledge of
the mineral matter present in coal helps in solving industrial prob-
lems such as boiler erosion, ash formation and slagging, coal pro-
cessing and coal utilization. Powder XRD diffractogram of the C1,
C15, and C96 coal samples (Fig. 2) indicates that quartz and kaolin-
ite are the major minerals present in all the three coals. Minor
amounts of feldspar, pyrite, whitlockite and siderite minerals were
also observed. Presence of iron containing minerals pyrite [FeS2]
and siderite [FeCO3] suggests that the ash fusion temperatures
(AFTs) of these coals could be low. The coal mineralogy and their
modes of occurrence were further investigated using electron
probe micro analyzer (EPMA). EPMA is a useful technique in deter-
mining location and size of mineral grains inside coal matrix and
its chemical composition. Representative micrographs obtained
for C1 and C15 coal samples using EPMA (Fig. 3) shows presence
of mineral grains of about 150–200 lm size inside the coal matrix.
Localized analysis of chemical compositions at different points
reveals presence of quartz, kaolinite, pyrite, and feldspar minerals
Fig. 2. XRD diffractogram of C1, C15 and C96 coal samples. (Q – quartz; K – kaolinite in both of C1 and C15 coal samples. The result of EPMA analysis
F – feldspar; P – pyrite; W – whitlockite; Sd – siderite).
matches well with XRD analysis.

Fig. 3. EPMA Micrographs of (a) C1 and (b) C15 coal samples.

 S. Chakravarty et al. / Fuel 150 (2015) 96–101 99

4.2. Coal ash chemistry and mineralogy samples are in the order of C15 > C96 > C1. The amounts of CaO,
MgO, Na2O, K2O and P2O5 are below 2.33%.
Chemical analysis of coal ash samples was performed to ascer- XRD analysis of ash samples was carried out to identify the min-
tain the chemical composition of the coal ash which could be used eral phases present in these samples. The objective was to get infor-
to predict AFTs. Table 2 contains the chemical analysis data for C1, mation on mineral phase transformations that occurred during
C15 and C96 coal ash samples. Data in Table 2 indicates that SiO2, ashing of coal samples. The XRD patterns of the ash samples
Al2O3, and Fe2O3 are the predominant minerals present in coal ash. (Fig. 4) indicate that quartz is the major mineral present in all ash
While Al2O3 content is similar for all the three ash samples (21%), samples. It should be noted that XRD patterns of coal ash samples
the SiO2 and Fe2O3 content varied widely between the seams. The are significantly different from that of the original coal samples
SiO2 content varied between 48.32% and 62.59% and Fe2O3 content (Fig. 2). During combustion of coal in natural atmospheric condi-
varied within 5.51% to 21.47%. The amount of Fe2O3 in three tions, some mineral phases got transformed to new phases. For
example, kaolinite phases present in original coal samples (Fig. 2)
are absent in ash samples. Similarly, mineral phases of Fe (Goethite
Table 2
Chemical analysis of coal ash samples.
and Siderite) were transformed to hematite in coal ash samples.
EPMA analysis of C1 and C15 coal ash samples (Fig. 5) further cor-
Ash composition (wt%) C1 C15 C96
roborate the findings of XRD analysis. Mineral compositions of
Al2O3 21.46 20.55 21.29 the ash samples were estimated from the oxide composition of coal
SiO2 62.59 48.32 56.54 ash and presented in Table 3. The compositions of mineral phases
Fe2O3 5.51 21.47 13.44
CaO 1.73 1.98 2.33
were derived from the chemical composition data of coal ash
MgO 0.60 0.50 1.05 (Table 2) and the FactSage data described later.
Na2O 0.11 0.14 0.16
K2O 1.05 1.21 1.14
4.3. Ash fusion temperatures
P2O5 1.57 1.67 1.02
TiO2 1.72 1.44 1.65
SO3 0.06 0.04 0.15 AFTs of a coal give an indication of the extent to which ash
clinkering and ash agglomeration are likely to occur during coal
combustion and gasification. AFT determination involves identifi-
cation of four temperatures i.e. initial deformation temperature
(IDT), softening temperature (ST), hemispherical temperature
(HT), and the melting temperature (MT) which reflects different
phases of the ash ‘melting’ process. The experimentally determined
AFTs of C1, C15 and C96 coal ash samples are tabulated in Table 4.
One important observation from data in Table 4 is that the IDT of
all the three ash samples are practically same (1150 °C) whereas
the ST, HT and MT values decreases in the order C1 > C96 > C15.
The trend can be explained considering the mineral composition
of the ash samples. Although the three coal samples are collected
from three seams of the same borehole there is a marked difference
in the chemical composition of their ashes (Table 2). Liu et. al. have
reported that three major chemical compositions that affect the
AFTs of coal samples are CaO, and Fe2O3 content and SiO2/Al2O3
ratio (S/A) [21]. AFTs decreases with increase of CaO and Fe2O3
content and increase of S/A ratio till 1.5. Beyond the S/A value of
2.0, AFTs decrease marginally or remain unchanged [21]. In the
present case, the S/A ratio of all the three samples are higher than
2.0 and very close to each other (2.92, 2.35, and 2.65 for C1, C16
and C96, respectively); therefore it does not have significant affect
on AFTs. However, the Fe2O3 content of C15 sample is very high
Fig. 4. XRD patterns of coal ash. Q – quartz, H – Hematite, Py – pyrrhotite, (21.47%) compared to C96 and C1 samples (13.44% & 5.51%,
A – Apatite, S – Siderite, L – Leucite, R – Rutile, C – Corderite. respectively), resulting in lowest AFTs for C15 sample.

Fig. 5. EPMA Micrographs of (a) C1 and (b) C15 ash samples.

100 S. Chakravarty et al. / Fuel 150 (2015) 96–101

Table 3
Mineral phase composition (%) of coal ashes estimated from oxide composition.

Mineral phase (%) C1 C15 C96

Quartz 50.2 36.4 43.0
Mullite 24.1 23.5 20.6
Leucite 4.2 5.2 7.8
Hematite 2.8 12.9 9.8
Siderite 4.1 8.5 3.4
Apatite 4.5 3.8 4.6
Rutile 1.7 1.4 1.6

Table 4
Experimentally determined Ash Fusion Temperature (AFT) of coal samples and
percentage of liquid phase at that temperature predicted by FactSage.

Sample name Ash fusion % of liquid phase

temperatures (°C) predicted by FactSage
C1 IDT 1145 12
ST 1246 30
HT >1500 89
MT >1600 100
C15 IDT 1148 15
ST 1249 34
HT 1445 95
MT 1510 100
C96 IDT 1152 18
ST 1254 42
HT 1455 98
MT 1548 100

4.4. FactSage thermodynamic modeling

Computer assisted thermodynamic modeling of phase equilib-

ria helps in prediction of processes taking place during AFT test
and prediction of chemical composition at equilibrium. FactSage,
one of the largest fully integrated database computing systems in
chemical thermodynamics is one such thermodynamic modeling
software and it has been used earlier to predict the AFT of coal
[18]. In the present study the FactSage 6.4 modeling program
was used to predict (i) the mineral phase transformations that
occur during the ash fusion temperature test and the relationship
between mineral phases and ash melting temperatures, and (ii)
to study the degree of liquefaction & slagging behavior of the coal
ash samples. The objective was to match the data predicted by Fac-
tSage and the experimental data obtained for C1, C15 and C96 coal
samples used in the present study.
FactSage was first used to predict the mineral phase transfor-
mations that might occur at equilibrated conditions from 700 °C
to 1500 °C for C1, C15 and C96 coal ash samples using chemical
analysis data of coal ash samples as the input. The result is present-
ed in Fig. 6(A–C). Fig. 6A shows that quartz, mullite, corundum,
albite, rutile, leucite, cordierite and whitlockite phases will be
formed at 750 °C in the C1 coal ash. This is in agreement with
the mineral phases identified in XRD of C1 coal ash sample
(Fig. 4) where coal ash was prepared at 750 °C. Similar result was
Fig. 6. Phase transformations of coal ash samples obtained using FactSage (A) C1;
obtained for C15 and C96 coal ash samples. Fig. 6A–C provides
(B) C15; (C) C96.
detail information about phase transformations that will occur
for C1, C15, and C96 coal ash samples, respectively when the tem-
perature is raised from 700 °C to 1500 °C. As a representative sam- Tridymite, Corderite [Mg2Al4Si5O18] and Anorthite [CaAl2Si2O8]
ple, C1 coal was considered and the phase transformations for this (Fig 6A). The major phase quartz identified in all coals remains till
sample predicted by FactSage in Fig. 6A are discussed hereafter. 1200 °C but undergoes polymorphism and forms tridymite at high-
Between 800 °C and 850 °C, quartz starts to transform first. The er temperatures. Similarly polymorphism of Kaolinite to andalusite
onset of decomposition of quartz is from temperatures higher than and mullite was observed with increasing temperature. The minor
750 °C. In the temperature range of 750–1500 °C, mullite (Al6Si2O13), phases of feldspar, pyrite and siderite got transformed to illite,
rutile (TiO2), albite (NaAlSi3O8), corundum (mostly Fe2O3), and pyrrhotite and hematite respectively at higher temperature. The
leucite [K(AlSi2O6)] starts to decompose with the formation of phases of cordierite and whitlockite were also observed in the
 S. Chakravarty et al. / Fuel 150 (2015) 96–101
Fig. 7. Mass percentage of liquid phases at different temperatures for coal ash
samples calculated by FactSage.
temperature range used in thermodynamic calculations. Above
1500 °C, the whole phase assemblage of the coal is molten. The
decrease in intensity of the mineral matter as function of tem-
perature is not only a decomposition of some mineral phases but
also the formation of liquid slag.
FactSage was then used to predict the mass percentage of liquid
phases for coal ash samples when ash is heated between 700 °C
and 1500 °C. Fig. 7 shows the mass percent of liquid phases as a
function of temperature for three coal ash samples C1, C15, and
C96. Although the amount of liquid phase is fairly low at 950 °C,
a percentage of which is definitely present, this temperature is
not reflected in experimentally determined AFT analysis. The per-
centage of liquid phase predicted by FactSage at different
experimentally determined AFTs is presented in Table 4. It can
be noted from Table 4 that the mass percentage of liquid phase
formed during the heating process varied with coal ash samples.
For example, at the experimentally determined IDT, C1 ash sample
had 12% liquid phase where as in C15 ash sample, the liquid phase
is 15% and for C96 sample, the liquid phase is 18%. For C1, the ini-
tial deformation temperature and softening temperature is lower
than that of C15 and C96. From 1145 °C to 1250 °C, the liquid phase
increases very sharply from very low percentage to 35%. Over
1250 °C, the formed liquid increases further by 63% at 1500 °C.
The mass percentage of melt phase for C96 ash was higher than
C1and C15 ash samples in the entire temperature range studied
(Fig. 7).
5. Conclusion
In Summary, investigation conducted on coals of three different
seams of a particular borehole of Samleswari coal field, Odisha,
India reveals that coals of all the three seams are of poor quality
having high ash content, low fixed carbon content and low gross
calorific values. However, the total sulfur content is relatively
low (0.36–0.78%) compared to the coal available in North East
states of India. The coal samples are similar in nature (bituminous),
but the bulk chemistry and mineralogy varies significantly
between the seams. Coals collected from lower depths are charac-
terized by presence of high amounts of Al2O3 and SiO2 compared to
other two at higher depths. From XRD and EPMA analysis it was
observed that during combustion the mineral matter present in
coal gets transformed to other mineral phases following high
101
temperature phase transformations. Ash fusion temperatures of
coals of the three seams are different due to different mineralogical
composition of coals. Presence of high amount of SiO2 contributed
to higher AFT whereas presence of high amount of Fe2O3 contribut-
ed towards lowering of AFT. FactSage thermodynamic modeling
was used to study the mineral phase transformations and melting
behavior of coal ash samples. The results obtained from FactSage
calculation agrees well with the results obtained from XRD and
EPMA analysis. FactSage predictions of ash melting behavior pro-
vided important information about slagging properties of these
coal samples.
Acknowledgements
The authors are thankful to the Director, National Metallurgical
laboratory for permission to publish this work. The work is the part
of the ongoing project sponsored by CMPDIL, Ranchi. Special
thanks to CMPDIL, Ranchi for their support in coal characterization.
References
[1] Chikkatur AP, Sagar AD, Sankar TL. Sustainable development of the Indian coal
sector. Energy 2009;34:942–53.
[2] Ministry of Coal. Report (part I) of the Expert Committee on Road Map for Coal
Sector Reforms. Ministry of Coal, editor. Government of India. <http://coal.nic.
in/expertreport.pdf>; 2005.
[3] Singh AK, Singh MP, Singh PK. Petrological investigations of oligocene coals
from foreland basin of northeast India. Energy Explor Exploit 2013;31:909–36.
[4] Nayak B. Mineral matter and the nature of pyrite in some high sulphur tertiary
coals of Meghalaya, Northeast India. J Geolog Soc India 2013;81:203–14.
[5] Singh MP, Singh AK. Petrographic characteristics and depositional conditions
of eocene coals of platform basins, Meghalaya, India. Int J Coal Geol
2000;42:315–56.
[6] Sharma A, Saikia A, Khare P, Dutta DK, Baruah BP. The chemical composition of
tertiary Indian coal ash and its combustion behaviour – a statistical approach:
Part 2. J Earth Syst Sci 2014;123:1439–49.
[7] Ward CR. Analysis and significance of mineral matter in coal seams. Int J Coal
Geol 2002;50:135–68.
[8] van Dyk JC. Understanding the influence of acidic components (Si, Al, and Ti)
on ash flow temperature of South African coal sources. Miner Eng
2006;19:280–6.
[9] Liu YH, Gupta R, Elliott L, Wall T, Fujimori T. Thermomechanical analysis of
laboratory ash, combustion ash and deposits from coal combustion. Fuel
Process Technol 2007;88:1099–107.
[10] Wang WL, Luo ZY, Shi ZL, Cen KF. Thermodynamic analysis of ash mineral
phases in combustion of high-sulfur coal with lime. Ind Eng Chem Res
2011;50:3064–70.
[11] Song WJ, Tang LH, Zhu XD, Wu YQ, Zhu ZB, Koyama S. Effect of coal ash
composition on ash fusion temperatures. Energy Fuel 2010;24:182–9.
[12] Van Dyk JC, Benson SA, Laumb ML, Waanders B. Coal and coal ash
characteristics to understand mineral transformations and slag formation.
Fuel 2009;88:1057–63.
[13] Vassilev SV, Kitanob K, Takedab S, Tsurueb T. Influence of mineral and
chemical composition of coal ashes on their fusibility. Fuel Process Technol
1995;45:27–51.
[14] Yang JG, Deng FR, Hong Z, Cen KF. Mineral conversion and microstructure
change in the melting process of Shenmu coal ash. Asia-Pac J Chem Eng
2007;2:165–70.
[15] Kahramana H, Reifensteinb AP, Coin CDA. Correlation of ash behaviour in
power stations using the improved ash fusion test. Fuel 1999;78:1463–71.
[16] Ozbayoğlua G, Ozbayoğlub ME. A new approach for the prediction of ash
fusion temperatures: a case study using Turkish lignites. Fuel
2006;85:545–52.
[17] Wee HL, Wu HW, Zhang DK. Heterogeneity of ash deposits formed in a utility
boiler during PF combustion. Energy Fuel 2007;21:441–50.
[18] Jak E. Prediction of coal ash fusion temperatures with the FACT
thermodynamic computer package. Fuel 2002;81:1655–68.
[19] Seggiani M, Pannocchia G. Prediction of coal ash thermal properties using
partial least-squares regression. Ind Eng Chem Res 2003;42:4919–26.
[20] Yin C, Luo Z, Ni M, Cen K. Predicting coal ash fusion temperature with a back
propagation neural network model. Fuel 1998;77:1777–82.
[21] Liu B, He Q, Jiang Z, Xu R, Hu B. Relationship between coal ash composition and
ash fusion temperatures. Fuel 2013;105:293–300.