This volume contains papers presented at the 8th International Conference on Coal Science, held in Oviedo, Spain, September 10-15, 1995. Volume I contains papers dealing with Fundamentals and General Aspects, Combustion and Gasification and Pyrolysis and Carbonization. Volume II covers papers discussing Liquefaction and Hydropyrolysis and Coal and the Environment. The scope of topics covered will give the reader a state-of-the-art impression of coal characterization and depolymerization, coal-derived carbons, coal carbonization and liquefaction, and the progress towards making coal an environmentally acceptable fuel during its combustion in electricity production. The use of modern physicochemical characterization techniques has advanced knowledge of coal composition and structure enormously in the last twenty years, and it is hoped that coal will enter into the next millenium as a clean and efficient fuel.

Coal science and engineering will be helpful as a unified source of information on coal for both students specializing in coal and entrepreneurs working on coal. Chapters cover coal deposits, mining and beneficiation; coal structure and coal classification; coal analysis; coal cleaning processes; and coal conversion processes, as well as coal derived industrial carbons; utilization of coal wastes; and pollution generated by coal and its abatement.

Coal Science, Volume 3 presents and evaluates selected fundamental scientific areas on coal structure, reactivity, and utilization. This book describes the organic geochemistry of coal, role of oxygen functionality in coal and coal liquids reactivity, chemistry of hydrocarbon syntheses from carbon monoxide and hydrogen, and chemistry of coal in carbon monoxide/water systems. Other topics discussed include intermediates and mechanisms of the FTS of hydrocarbons; synthesis of oxygenates; and structural features of vitrinite macerals. The molecular weight determination for coal derivatives; thermal reactions of oxygen compounds; and alternative methods for removing oxygen compounds from coal-derived liquids are also elaborated. This publication likewise covers the aqueous coal conversions and conversion mechanism. This volume serves as a valuable source of information and guide to scientists and researchers interested in the coal literature.

Coal Science, Volume 1 presents and evaluates the fundamental scientific areas involved with the structure, reactivity, and utilization of coal. This book reviews the coal's inorganic structure and reactivity and the role that ionic bonding plays in coal's chemical and physical structure and reactivity. Organized into five chapters, this volume begins with an overview of the characteristics of coals that are attributable to plastic substances. This text then examines coal's organic components that are derived from complex plant materials by complicated biological and chemical reaction processes. Other chapters consider the valuable tools in coal research, including electron spin resonance and nuclear magnetic resonance. This book discusses as well the problem of determining the molecular structure of the organic part of coal. The final chapter deals with the reductive alkylation reaction and other pertinent procedures such as reduction without alkylation and alkylation without reduction. This book is a valuable resource for chemists, engineers, and research workers.

1991 International Conference on Coal Science Proceedings