Fuel characteristics of duduguru coal from nasarawa state in nigeria

The discovery of vast deposits of various ranks of coal in Nigeria presents significant opportunities to address the nation’s persistent energy crises. However, the lack of comprehensive data on the physicochemical, calorific, microstructural, mineralogical, and thermal properties of Nigerian coals remains a significant challenge. Therefore, this paper seeks to investigate the fuel characte ristics and energy recovery potential of a newly discovered coal from Duduguru in Obi Local Government Area of Nasarawa State, Nigeria. Results revealed that Duduguru (DDG) coal contains high carbon (59.6%), oxygen (32.9%), volatile matter (76.4%), fixed carbon (16.6%) and higher heating value (HHV = 26.6 MJ/kg), but low nitrogen (1.3%), sulphur (0.6%), moisture (6.5%), and ash (0.5%) content. Based on these properties, DDG is classified as a non-agglomerating, sub-bituminous, grade “A” coal with potentials for electricity generation, cement production, among others. The mineralogical analyses revealed quartz, kaolinite, and aluminosilicates are present in its microstructure. Thermal analysis revealed that DDG is more thermally reactive under flash combustion (FCO) based on its higher mass loss (ML) and lower residual mass (RM) compared to flash pyrolysis (FPY) conditions. The temperature profile characteristics of DDG under FCO were considerably lower than the FPY. In conclusion, the findings indicate that combustion is a more practical route for efficient energy recovery from DDG coal in the future .