An analysis of the coal attributes of Bangladesh and their practical utilization

Coal has exhibited high demand as a source of energy in many developing countries, including China, India, and South Africa. Bangladesh has huge deposits discovered in five major coal mines in Barapukuria, Phulbari, Khalaspeer, Dighipara, and Jamalganj. Effective use of those resources, Barapukuria, Dighipara, and Khalaspeer coal was investigated considering their proximate as well as ultimate analysis along with the heating value. The resulting data were compared with the data obtained from the reported data of Phulbari and Jamalganj coal and found that the Barapukuria, Phulbari, and Khalaspeer coals showed the best quality among others for electricity generation. The ash constituents of such types of coals were also investigated. Al2O3, SiO2, and Fe2O3 were found as major constituents with alkali elements along with trace toxic elements in all of the coal samples. The thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential thermogravimetric analysis (DTA) of Barapukuria, Dighipara, and Khalaspeer coal were also investigated. Khalaspeer coal showed more severe resistance to temperature than that of Barapukuria and Dighipara. This coal seems to be among the highest quality coals Bangladesh, suitable for coking processes, while Barapukuria coal contains much more organic matter that could be used for the extraction of creosote oil, naphthaline, phenol, benzene, etc. The morphological structure of SEM was also investigated among three coal samples. All of the coal samples demonstrated almost the same with a clear image. The highest enlarging to ×10,000 at 1 μm showed an obscure and unclear image. So, this study significantly impacts coal development in Bangladesh.