Pyrolysis gas chromatography of some coals by nitrogen and phosphorus, flame ionisation and mass spectrometer detectors

Pyroprobe pyrolysis technique was applied to some coals with very different geographic origins. The pyroprobe was coupled to a gas chromatograph and the products were detected using different systems: mass spectrometry (MS), nitrogen and phosphorus selective detector (NPD) or flame ionisation detector (FID). The MS data permitted the identification of most of the pyrolysis products. The production of nitrogen bearing compounds was studied with NPD data, and the amount of all pyrolysis products with FID data. This data was also used for principal component analysis and the results for a hierarchic cluster analysis which suggests a classification of coals.