Revalorization of Mineral Coal, to Obtain Carbonaceous Materials with High Added Value

Abstract

This paper shows the possibility that the mineral coal existing in the mining basins of northern Spain have a high added value. This would facilitate its future use in different fields such as new materials, nanotechnology, energy use in situ , coal bed methane, enhanced coal bed methane and coalmine methane. An analytical study of mineral coal samples is carried out. The samples come from two deposits located in coal basins of the Cantabrian Mountains. The duly prepared samples are subjected to an activation process. Within this transformation, different treatments are applied to different sub-samples. Some of the sub-samples suffer a previous demineralization by successive attacks with acids, followed by oxidation and pyrolysis. Finally, all of them are activated with CO 2 and H 2 O (steam) . The carbonaceous products resulting from each treatment are characterised. The results show that all the pre-treatments used were positive for the textural development of the materials. Likewise, proper management of the processes and of the different operating variables allows the procurement of carbo- naceous materials with a “tailor-made” structural development of the coal type. This material receives the name “activated” and can be employed in specific processes.