Alicyclicity and Smoke Emission of Coal

MUCH work has been done in the past on the smokiness or the smoke nuisance of coal during combustion, but mainly on its abatement. The fundamental causes of smoke emission have been little studied, though its obvious link with volatile matter and/or tar 1 has been known. Recent dehydrogenation studies 2,3 made by us leading to the determination of alicyclic carbon in coal have resulted in certain findings on the pyrolysis and combustion behaviour of dehydrogenated coals which obviously suggest that alicyclic bodies in coal are the main smoke-forming constituents.