Research Article
Manoj B
Abstract
Leaching of minerals (Silicates, Calcium, Aluminum) from bituminous coal by gluconic acid of varying concentration was carried out and the chemical mechanism was studied. Stacking structural parameters of the coal like aromaticity, rank, number of aromatic layers, carbon atoms per aromatic lamellae, stacking height and lattice spacing were determined using X-ray analysis. An ordering of lattice was noticed with gluconic acid leaching and is maximum for 20% and 40% concentration. The number of lyers and average number of carbon atoms per lamellae are found to be varying from 6-7 and 11-17 respectively. The mineral content (Al and Si) shows systematic decrease with increase in concentration of leachant. The optimum demineralization is noticed for the successively leached coal sample with glucoinc acid and mild Hydrofluoric acid.