The Ib-valley coalfield of Odisha, India contains five coal seams viz. Ib-seam at the bottom overlain successively by Rampur seam, Lajkura seam, Parkhani seam and Belpahar seam. Twenty one representative samples were collected from three major seams (Ib, Rampur and Lajkura) and their petrography and chemical studies were carried out. Samples were not collected from the Parkhani and Belpahar seams as these are very small seams exposed locally having no regional correlation. The macroscopic study shows the dominance of durain which imparts a dull appearance to these coals. The maceral analysis reveals that vitrinite percentage varies from 4.5% to 80.2%, the exinite from 3.30% to 22.2% and the inertinite from 12.5% to 92.2% in different samples of the Ib valley coalfield. The very high proportion of inertinite suggests a shallower water deposition of plant materials followed by prolonged period of exposure and repeated cycle of weathering. The proximate analysis results show that the top Lajkura seam is comparatively lower in rank than the underlying Ib and the Rampur seam. The ultimate analysis exhibites that the percentage of variation in C is found from 77.88 to 85.79, H from 4, 4 to 5.91 and O from 7.26 to 15.3. H/C and O/C ratio including C.V. in this coalfield showing distinct variations from the bottom to top seam. The analyses results indicate that the petrographic and chemical characters of the ib valley coals are stratigraphically controlled.
Senapaty, A. and Behera, P. (2015) Stratigraphic Control of Petrography and Chemical Composition of the Lower Gondwana Coals, Ib-Valley Coalfield, Odisha, India. Journal of Geoscience and Environment Protection, 3, 56-66. doi: 10.4236/gep.2015.34007.
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