Alain DELOYE - Technical Services Manager

DST- BP 4114
76020 Rouen Cedex - F

Coal Conversion Facts & Calculations

1. Analysis basis

1.1 Definitions

As Received (AR): includes Total moisture (Tm)

Air Dried (AD): includes Inherent moisture (Im) only
Dry Basis (DB): excludes all Moisture
Dry Ash Free (DAF): excludes all Moisture & Ash
The Proximate Analysis of any coal ie the % contents of Moisture, Ash (A), Volatile Matter (VM),
Fixed Carbon (FC) - also Sulphur (S) and Calorific Value (CV) - can be expressed on any of the above
bases.

1.2 Conversions

To obtain: Air Dry Dry Basis As Received

multiply

(100 - Im%) 100

AR by: -
(100 - Tm%) (100 - Tm%)

100 (100 - Tm%)

AD by: -
(100 - Im%) (100 - Im%)
(100 - Im%) (100 - Tm%)
DB by: -
100 100

Where Im: inherent moisture

Where Tm: total moisture

[For DAF, multiply DB by 100/(100-A)]

 Alain DELOYE - Technical Services Manager
DST- BP 4114
76020 Rouen Cedex - F
Example:

AR AD DB DAF
Tm 11.0 - - -
Im 2.0 2.0 - -
Ash (A) 12.0 13.2 13.5 -
VM 30.0 33.0 33.7 39.0
FC 47.0 51.8 52.8 61.0
Sulfur (S) 1.0 1.1 1.12 -

2. MASS

2.1 Units:

Metric ton (t) = tonne = 1,000 kilograms (= 2,204.6 lb)

Imperial or Long ton (lt) = 1,016.05 kilograms (= 2,240 lb)
Short (US) ton (st) = 907.19 kilograms (= 2,000 lb)

2.2 Conversions:
From long ton to metric ton multiply by 1.016
From metric ton to long ton multiply by 0.984206
From short ton to metric ton multiply by 0.9072
Mt - million tonnes
Mtce - million tonnes of coal equivalent (= 0.697 Mtoe)
Mtoe - million tonnes of oil equivalent

3. CALORIFIC VALUES (CV)

3.1 Units:

kcal/kg - Kilocalories per kilogram

MJ/kg* - Megajoules per kilogram
Btu/lb - British Thermal Units per pound

* 1 MJ/kg = 1 Gigajoule/tonne (GJ/t)

 Alain DELOYE - Technical Services Manager
DST- BP 4114
76020 Rouen Cedex - F

3.2 Gross & Net Calorific Values:

Gross CV or 'upper heating value' is the CV under laboratory conditions.

Net CV or 'Net Effective Calories' (NEC) is the useful calorific value in boiler plant. The
difference is essentially the latent heat of the water vapor produced.

3.3 Conversions – Units:

From kcal/kg to MJ/kg multiply by 0.004187

From kcal/kg to Btu/lb multiply by 1.800

kcal/kg = Btu/lb / 1.800

From MJ/kg to kcal/kg multiply MJ/kg by 238.846

MJ/kg = kcal/kg / 238.846

From MJ/kg to Btu/lb multiply MJ/kg by 429.923

MJ/kg = Btu/lb / 429.923

From Btu/lb to kcal/kg multiply Btu/lb by 0.5556

From Btu/lb to MJ/kg multiply Btu/lb by 0.002326

3.4 Formulas and conversions - Gross/Net :

Ref: Net Calorific Value (ASTM D5865-03)

The heat produced by combustion of a substance at a constant pressure of 0.1 Mpa (1 Atm), with any
water formed remaining as vapor.

ISO 1928-2009 at constant volume

Qv, net,m, J/g = ( Q gr,v,d - 206.0 [ wHd ] ) x (1-0.01 x Tm) - (23.05 x Tm)
Qv, net,m, kcal/kg = ( Q gr,v,d - 49.20 [ wHd ] ) x (1-0.01 x Tm) - (5.51 x Tm)

ISO 1928-2009 at constant pressure

Qp, net,m, J/g = { Q gr,v,d – 212.0 [ wHd ] - 0.8 x [wOd + wNd] } x (1- 0.01Tm) - 24.43 x Tm
Qp, net,m, kcal/kg = { Q gr,v,d - 50.64 [ wHd ] - 0.191 x [wOd + wNd] } x (1- 0.01Tm) - 5.84 x Tm
 Alain DELOYE - Technical Services Manager
DST- BP 4114
76020 Rouen Cedex - F
[ wHd ] = H content of the sample less hydrogen present in the moisture
w(H)d = w(H) x 100/100-Tm
Tm= Total moisture
ASTM 5865/3180 at constant pressure

Qp(net)ar,J/g = Qvar(gross) - (215.5 x Har)

Qp(net)ar,Btu/lb = Qvar(gross) - (92.67 x Har)
Qp(net)ar,kcal/kg = Qvar(gross) - (51.47 x Har)

Har = total hydrogen where hydrogen includes hydrogen in sample moisture

Har = [(Had-0.1119xMad) x (100-Mar)/(100-Mad)] + 0.1119 x Mar

4. VARIOUS PARAMETERS CALCULATIONS:

4.1 Seyler’s Formula:

Various parameters of coal can be estimated from the Ultimate Analysis and Calorific Value
determinations, using Seyler's formula, and other similar calculations (e.g. Dulong's or Channivala’s
formulas).
Reference:
VM daf = 10.61H daf - 1.24C daf + 84.15
H daf = 0.069 (Q daf/100+VM daf) - 2.86
C daf = [0.59 (Q daf/100 - 0.367VM daf) + 43.4]

Estimate of the hydrogen content, calculated using Seyler's Formula:

wH = 0.07 x w(V) + 0.000165 x qv,gr,m - 0.0285 x [ 100 - Tm - w(A)]

w(H) = is the H content of sample less H contained in moisture, as % mass

w(V) = is the VM content of sample with moisture content Tm, as % mass
w(A) = is the ash content of sample with moisture content Tm, as % mass
qv,gr,m = is the gross CV of sample with moisture content Tm, in j/g

Note 1 * Only valid when the calculated H db is greater than 3%

*ISO 1928-2009 § E.3.3

Note 2 ** Only valid when the O daf content is less than 15%
** COAL -Typology -Physics -Chemistry -Constitution
D.W. Van Krevelen (third edition 1993) Page 47

Note 3 Can give erroneous results if coal shipments are a blend of low and high rank coals.
 Alain DELOYE - Technical Services Manager
DST- BP 4114
76020 Rouen Cedex - F
4.1 Dulong's Formula:

GCV(db) = 333xC(db) + 1442(H(db) - O(db) / 8) + 93xS(db)

GCV is in (kJ/kg dry basis) - C, H, O, S as percent on a dry basis.

Other calculations formulas related to CV:

kcal/kg: Net CV = Gross CV - 50.6H - 5.85M - 0.191O

MJ/kg: Net CV = Gross CV - 0.212H - 0.0245M - 0.0008O
Btu/lb: Net CV = Gross CV - 91.2H - 10.5M - 0.34O

- where M is % Moisture, H is % Hydrogen, O is % Oxygen (from ultimate analysis, also As Received).

For typical bituminous coal with 10% M and 25% Volatile Matter, the differences between gross and
net calorific values are approximately as follows:

260 kcal/kg 1.09 MJ/kg 470 Btu/lb

5. CO2 EMISSION FACTOR:

t/CO2/TJ =
C % As Received x 3.667 x [NCV/10000)] in kJ/kg =
C % As Received x 3.667 x [NCV/2388.46/NCV] in kcal/kg

Note 1 Coefficient is 3,664 for France.

6. POWER GENERATION:

1 MWh = 3,600 MJ
1 MW = 1 MJ/s
1 MW (thermal power) [MWth] = approx 1,000 kg steam/hour
1 MW (electrical power) [MWe] = approx MWth / 3

A 600 MWe coal-fired power station operating at 38% efficiency and 75% overall availability will
consume approximately:

- Bituminous coal (CV 6,000 kcal/kg NAR): 1.5 Mt/year

- Brown coal (CV 2,250 kcal/kg NAR): 4.0 Mt/year
 Alain DELOYE - Technical Services Manager
DST- BP 4114
76020 Rouen Cedex - F

7. MOISTURE:

Two Stage Total Moisture Formula (Refer to ASTM / ISO)

Two stage total moisture determination is used when the coal sample is too wet to divide or crush
without the potential of loosing significant amounts of moisture.
Tm ar, % = [Rm ad, % x (100 – Fm ad, %) / 100] + Fm ad %

Tm = Total moisture; Fm = Free moisture; Rm = Residual moisture.

8. FUEL RATIO:
= Fixed Carbon / Volatile Matter

9. HYDROGEN & OXYGEN

In Coal: (Refer to ASTM 3180 / ISO 1170)

Inasmuch as hydrogen and oxygen values may be reported on the basis of containing or not
containing the hydrogen and oxygen in water (moisture) associated with the sample, alternative
conversion procedures are defined below:

Hydrogen and Oxygen Factors based on the atomic weight of H20:

Hydrogen = Moisture X 0.1119
Oxygen = Moisture X 0.8881

Sources: GWC Coal Handbook, ASTM & ISO Standards & others.