Structural evaluation of coking component of West Bokaro coal of Indian origin

Detailed structural elucidation of coal is arduous owing to its complexity and structural heterogeneity. However, an understanding of structural aspect of coking coal is important, in particular, in order to develop structural analogs which could be used as substitutes for metallurgical applications. This study was performed to further corroborate previous structural data gathered for other coking components (CCs) of Indian origin. In the present study, we isolated the CC from West Bokaro coal using density separation followed by organic solvent extraction and performed a detailed structural characterization using XRD, FTIR, Raman, solid-state 13C spectrometry and high-resolution mass spectrometry. The isolated CC has been deduced to possess an ordered graphitic structure comprising of condensed aromatic rings substituted with functional groups like CONH2, OH and SO3H. The presence of graphitic backbone and sulfonic acid group has been found to be in good agreement to previous structural elucidations of Indian coal.