The characterization of eight maceral concentrates by means of Curie point pyrolysis-gas chromatography and Curie point pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry

Abstract

In order to study the relationships between the chemical structures of coals, coal macerals and their precursors (plant tissues), eight coal macerals originating from the Yorkshire coal basin (U.K.) were studied by Curie point pyrolysis-gas chromatography and Curie point pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The samples were selected on the basis of a previous study of a large set of macerals. The macerals were studied in order to relate structural moieties of the macerals, as reflected by their pyrolysis products, to structural elements of their likely precursors, plant tissues. The maceral pyrolysates mainly consist of alkylbenzenes, alkylnaphthalenes, alkylphenols and series of straight-chain alk-l-enes and alkanes over a wide molecular weight range. The relative contribution of the (hydroxy)aromatic pyrolysis products and of the straight-chain alk-l-enes and alkanes to each maceral pyrolysate was calculated, although the internal distribution patterns of the alkyl derivatives of these pyrolysis products exhibited to a certain extent dissimilarities. Differences between the relative contributions of these pyrolysis products to the pyrolysates of different macerals with the same coal rank and to those of similar macerals with different coal rank depend on differences in precursor material and the chemical modification of these precursors upon increasing coalification. Multivariate data treatment by means of factor analysis was chosen to compare the pyrolysis data—represented by these histograms—with the petrographic data and the proximate and ultimate analysis values of the macerals. In addition, similar analyses was performed on the macerals using such a low Curie temperature (358°C), that from some of the macerals “thermal extracts” were obtained, containing a series of n-alkanes and some isoprenoids such as pristane and phytane. Although these thermal extracts represent only a low percentage by weight of the maceral samples, their existence probably will affect both the chemical and physical properties of the macerals, although they are in fact no pan of the coal structure itself.