Maceral Characterization of the Cretaceous Effin – Okai Coal De-posit in Northern Anambra Basin, Nigeria

Abstract

Petrographic studies have been carried out on coal samples from Effin – Okai coal deposit in northern Anambra Basin, Nigeria. The studies were designed to determine the petrographic char-acteristics of the coal based on its composition and vitrinite reflectance to ascertain the potential rele-vance of the coal to possible industrial usages. Mac-eral characterization reveals the presence of the three maceral groups; vitrinite, liptinite and iner-tinite in all the samples. Observed proportion of the vitrinites and inertinites were higher than the liptinites in the samples. Based on mineral matter-free basis, the average composition of the coal indi-cated 58.60% vitrinite, 8.60% liptinite and 32.80% inertinite. However, in the presence of mineral mat-ter, the average compositions were 46.40% vitrinite, 6.30% liptinite, 28.40% inertinite and 18.90% min-eral matter. Therefore, the coal contains 52.70% re-actives (vitrinite + liptinite) and 47.30% inerts (in-ertinite + mineral matter). The mean vitrinite reflec-tance measurement for the coal was 0.38% Romax. These petrographic characteristics suggest that the coal does not possess coking qualities suitable for coke making blends and for metallurgical processes such as utilization in reduction of iron ore. There-fore, the quality of the coal is low. However, it has potential values for electricity generation, in heat-ing of boilers and for powering oven for industrial heating process