Automated petrographic characterization of coal lithotypes

Although petrographic analysis of the lithotypes present in coal samples has been successfully used in the correlation of coal seams, the study of the environments of coal seam deposition, and the evaluation of the mining and cleaning properties of numerous coal seams, coal lithotype analysis is not routinely performed in North America at this time because it is very time consuming and requires the services of a highly skilled petrographer. The objective of this study was to evaluate the capability of one of the newly improved image analysis microscope systems to characterize coal lithotypes and perform automated lithotype analyses on polished block samples of coal.The results of this study show that each of the lithotypes examined, vitrain, clarain, fusain, and durain, yield a characteristic reflectance histogram and that analysis of reflectance histograms taken from a transverse, perpendicular to bedding, down a polished block sample yield results on the kinds and thicknesses of the lithotypes present that are in good agreement with the results obtained by manual methods.