Meso- and microporosity characteristics of Miocene lignite and subbituminous coals in the Kınık coalfield (Soma Basin, W. Turkey)

Abstract

Three Miocene-age coal seams - a lower seam (kM2, subbituminous), a middle seam (kM3, subbituminous), and an upper seam (kP1, lignite) - in the Kınık coalfield, located in the southwesternmost part of the Soma Basin in western Turkey, and factors controlling mesoporosity and microporosity characteristics, were investigated using low-pressure N2 and CO2 adsorption techniques, respectively. In addition, this study is also aimed to compare controlling factors on meso- and microporosity characteristics of Soma Basin and Late Carboniferous Zonguldak, and Late Miocene-Pliocene Dombayova Basins. It is found that distinct differences with regard to meso- and microporosity exist among the three seams (kM2, kM3 and kP1) investigated in the Kınık coalfield. Specifically, samples from kP1 have greater mesopore surface areas and volumes than those from kM3. In addition, samples from the upper part of kM2 have significantly lower mesopore surface area and volume than from the lower part of this seam and from kM3 and kP1. Samples from the lower part of kM2 have higher meso- and micropore surface area and volume values than kM3 and kP1 samples. The increase in mesopore surface area and volume, along with the increase in ash yield toward the lower part of kM2, suggests that mesoporosity characteristics in this seam appear to be controlled mainly by mineral matter content. The results of this study show that meso- and micropore surface area and volume of Miocene subbituminous coal (kM2) in Kınık and Eynez coalfields of the Soma Basin have higher values than lignite from the Dombayova Basin and bituminous coal from the Zonguldak Basin. The differences in mesopore characteristics between the Soma and the Zonguldak Basins could be related to differences in rank. In addition, the mesoporosity of coal seams in the Dombayova Basin is more similar to seams in the Zonguldak Basin. These conflicting data suggest that rank might not be a controlling factor on the meso- and micropore characteristics of the basins investigated in this paper. Nevertheless, the common presence of structured huminite macerals in the Soma Basin seems to have caused relatively higher microporosity surface area and volume values, whereas the common presence of illite, particularly in the lower parts of kM2, resulted in higher values of mesopore surface area and volume in the Soma Basin samples. Consequently, maceral and mineralogical compositions of the studied Turkish coals seem to exert major controls on meso- and micropore characteristics.