Development and evaluation of an automated reflectance microscope system for the petrographic characterization of bituminous coals
The development of automated coal petrographic techniques will lessen the demands on skilled personnel to do routine work. This project is concerned with the development and successful testing of an instrument which will meet these needs. The fundamental differences in reflectance of the three primary maceral groups should enable their differentiation in an automated-reflectance frequency histogram (reflectogram). Consequently, reflected light photometry was chosen as the method for automating coal petrographic analysis. Three generations of an automated system (called Rapid Scan Versions I, II and III) were developed and evaluated for petrographic analysis. Their basic design was that of a reflected-light microscope photometer with an automatic stage, interfaced with a minicomputer. The hardware elements used in the Rapid Scan Version I limited the system's flexibility and presented problems with signal digitization and measurement precision. Rapid Scan Version II was designed to incorporate a new microscope photometer and computer system. A digital stepping stage was incorporated into the Rapid Scan Version III system. The precision of reflectance determination of this system was found to be +- 0.02 percent reflectance. The limiting factor in quantitative interpretation of Rapid Scan reflectograms is the resolution of reflectance populations of the individual maceral groups. Statistical testing indicated that reflectograms were highly reproducible, and a new computer program, PETAN, was written to interpret the curves for vitrinite reflectance parameters ad petrographic.
- Research Organization:
- Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park (USA). Coal Research Section
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- AC01-76ET10615
- OSTI ID:
- 7021239
- Report Number(s):
- FE-2030-TR23
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
BITUMINOUS COAL
PETROGRAPHY
MACERALS
REFLECTIVITY
MEASURING METHODS
AUTOMATION
DESIGN
MICROPROCESSORS
MICROSCOPES
P CODES
PHOTOMETRY
PHOTOMICROGRAPHY
SPATIAL RESOLUTION
BLACK COAL
CARBONACEOUS MATERIALS
COAL
COMPUTER CODES
ENERGY SOURCES
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
MATERIALS
OPTICAL PROPERTIES
PHOTOGRAPHY
PHYSICAL PROPERTIES
RESOLUTION
SURFACE PROPERTIES
010600* - Coal
Lignite
& Peat- Properties & Composition