Analysis of Adsorption and Desorption of Ethylene on Hard Coals

Abstract

Ethylene is an unsaturated hydrocarbon that is released into the atmosphere of a mine as a result of an increase in the temperature of coal caused by the self-heating process. The content of ethylene in mine air is one of the indicators for assessing the degree of the coal self-heating process. Sorption capacities of hard coals with respect to ethylene may be the reason for the decrease in its concentration in mine air, which may affect the accuracy of self-heating process assessment. This phenomenon may be particularly important in the case of coals with significant sorption capacities. This paper presents the results of ethylene sorption studies carried out on six samples of bituminous coals collected from currently operational coal seams in Polish mines. The coals under analysis are characterized by varying sorption capacity with regard to ethylene. The highest sorption capacities were reported for low rank, high-porosity coals with easily accessible pore structure, high specific surface area values, a...