Thesis (M.S.)--Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1986. / Vita. Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 107-112). Also available via the Internet.

There is no abstract available for this dissertation.

Coal balls are carbonate concretions formed in peat during the Pennsylvanian and early Permian. Microprobe and microscope analysis reveal that polycrystals of high-Mg calcite (HMC), which are also high in Sr, are the earliest calcium carbonate to form in the Williamson No. 3 coal balls from the Kalo formation in Iowa. This HMC has early diagenetic rims of ferroan and non-ferroan low-Mg calcite (LMC) suggesting diagenesis in meteoric water. The combination of HMC followed by LMC suggests the earliest coal ball carbonate formed in a hydrologically dynamic environment, where saltwater influx into the mire was followed by a return to meteoric pore water. Subsequent generations of carbonate are ferroan and non-ferroan LMC and appear to result from diagenesis of the original HMC fabric with LMC rims. HMC polycrystals from coal balls are among the first abiotic HMC to be reported from the mid-Pennsylvanian; coal balls may be a good source of Pennsylvanian HMC. Coal balls that formed in porous peat (i.e. wood and surficial leaf mats) commonly have abundant radiating arrays of HMC polycrystals. Coal balls that formed in matrix-rich, low porosity peats consist primarily of permineralizing anhedral calcite, which is ferroan LMC. The link between the HMC and porous permeable peat is supported by the distribution of HMC and ferroan LMC in plant cells. Wood cells, which have porous walls, are filled with HMC; fiber cells, which have impermeable walls, are filled with ferroan LMC. This study demonstrates a link between pore volume, porosity, plant cell type, and carbonate fabric.

As a prerequisite to producing super-clean coal with any physical coal cleaning process, such as microbubble flotation, the feed coal must be micronized to liberate the finely disseminated mineral matter. The stirred ball mill is regarded as one of the most efficient devices for micronizing coal. Using a five-inch batch mill, the optimum operating conditions have been determined in terms of media size, feed size, media type, stirring speed and percent solids. The rates of breakage determined with monosized feeds are compared on the basis of specific energy consumption. It has been found that a 20:1 ball size/particle size ratio gives optimum grinding conditions. With the fine particle sizes obtained using stirred ball milling, as well as other fine grinding techniques, a growing concern has been generated regarding the accuracy of these size distributions. An automated technique has been developed in which a complete mass balanced size distribution can be obtained using an Elzone® 80XY particle size analyzer. A computer program is used to blend the data from successively smaller Orifice tubes, as well as, to determine the weight percent of material in a particle size distribution finer than the lower detection limit of the analyzer. This result is then used to correct the distribution for the missing fine material. / Master of Science