The fragmentation of large coal particles at high temperature is important to the efficient operation of Corex process of steelmaking, which uses raw coal instead of coke. The hypothesis is that the heterogeneity within coal particles affects the fragmentation. The interface of minerals and coal matrix is likely to be the weak areas where fragmentation is most likely to occur. Heterogeneity in organic components might also impact the fragmentation behaviour. Advanced characterisation, such as

more »

... mputer Controlled Scanning Electron Microscope (CCSEM), and petrographic analysis are applied to study the effects of coal properties on the fragmentation of large coal particles. A custom designed drop tube furnace is used to conduct drop tests at room temperature and at high temperature to assess the fragmentation behaviour of four coals at different experimental conditions. The coals with higher mineral-coal interface area resulted in higher fragmentation. The results agree well with the hypothesis. The effects of other parameters, such as feed size, temperature, and residence time are also studied.